Recycle, Reuse, Reduce: Pallet Fence

We're putting in a new garden and I'm building its fence out of pallets.  There are pallet projects all over the Internet and I love a good project, especially a recycling project. I got my pallets from Tractor Supply.

 

This garden is going to be round.  There is an ugly utility pole in the middle of the side yard and I'm going to incorporate it into the garden as a focal point.  My plan is to nail birdhouses to it, sort of like a birdhouse totem pole.

 Using a jigsaw, circular saw, and a crowbar it is easy to turn a pallet into a section of picket fence. The front slats are cut into the pickets.  Some of the back slats were removed, but I left the ones on each end for attaching to the posts.

 

 

I have almost all of the pallets cut into fence sections, but the weather just won't cooperate!!

 

 

For the gate, I am going to use the pear tree branches I cut this summer.  The plan is to "free style" some sort of cool design out of them.  I thought the pickets of the gate needed to be free formed also so that they would blend in with the branches. These shapes were cut with the jigsaw.

 

There are a few thing to keep in mind when working with pallets:

 

1.  Since you don't know what was stored on the pallet, it is not a good idea to actually grow vegetables in a raised bed made from pallets.

 

2.  Outdoor pallet projects need to be sealed and sealed and sealed again!!!

 

3. Pallets are either heat treated or treated with chemicals.  Look for the letters HT stamped on the pallet and use only heat treated pallets.

 

More on this project to come......

 

                                                                                                       Love ya'll,

                                                                                                               Shelli