In my part of Ontario the rule is not to plant until after Victoria Day weekend.
(nicknamed “May two-four” – since people usually drink 24 beers on the long weekend).

With this up-and-down winter we’re having, the Spring weather had me thinking of planting.  Don’t worry, I know we’ll get at least 3 more ‘good’ snows before Spring really arrives.

I opted to build something FOR the garden instead of IN the garden to appease my pre-pre-Spring fever.

Have you seen this pallet potting bench tutorial from Better Homes and Gardens? You can’t do better than a free potting bench right? 

So I got my pallets and went to work on “Step 1” – dismantling them.

I’m going to tell you right now, before you even start this project, pallets are next to impossible to take apart.

Crowbar, hammer, saw, swearing, cajoling, brute force, kicking….  nothing will take the surface boards off of the frame without splitting the wood to a million pieces.

So to save my blood pressure and sanity I decided to take the BHG pallet potting bench concept, but skip the part with the second pallet. Take crooked, beat-up pallet, 

pallet

add 2 x 4’s for legs, cut to a length that will have the pallet potting bench at about your belly-button height.

Pallet potting bench, pallet projects, DIY potting bench, simple potting bench

I had to go with ‘approximate’ because I was using up spare bits of wood from in the garage, so I didn’t have quite enough to reach my actual belly button.

Add back legs – which should reach 18″ or more above the pallet potting bench work top.  The height will depend on how many things you want to hang on the back ‘rack’.

Pallet potting bench, pallet projects, DIY potting bench, simple potting bench

Add side boards for the bottom shelf and then nail more scrap wood to those side pieces.  Cedar scrap wood is ideal, or maybe pressure treated – but since we’re trying to keep within the “free” arena, anything will do.

Pallet potting bench, pallet projects, DIY potting bench, simple potting bench

I’m not going to lie… it looked like crap at this point.

Pallet potting bench, pallet projects, DIY potting bench, simple potting bench

None of the wood was the same, my sawing was sketchy at best – and even though Hubby might have helped me with a few cuts – he vehemently denies having anything to do with the idea or implementation of this concept.

But wait!

I have a vision!

A vision that involves Benjamin Moore’s Neon Red exterior stain!

Benjamin Moore Arborcoat in Neon Red.

I’ve used Arborcoat on several projects and I have to tell you it is hands-down the best stain I have come across.  Doesn’t fade or peel off and you can get it in any colour in the rainbow and more.

Pallet potting bench, pallet projects, DIY potting bench, simple potting bench

Suddenly my pallet potting bench is looking kind of…

AWESOME!

Pallet potting bench, pallet projects, DIY potting bench, simple potting bench

Pallet potting bench, pallet projects, DIY potting bench, simple potting bench

Can you tell that this is a pallet potting bench at all?  Or that it’s made of mis-matched scrap wood?

What if I stage it a bit with my gardening pots?

Pallet potting bench, pallet projects, DIY potting bench, simple potting bench

All in all I’m pretty pleased; I spent a grand total of $8 on the stain and the rest was scrap wood that we had lying around = $0.

Pallet potting bench, pallet projects, DIY potting bench, simple potting bench

Just a few more weeks months until I can put this to work!

Have a great one!
Too funny, getting old
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5 Responses

  1. Great Idea! Thank you for sharing. I have an old pallet in the garage (that I found outside of an industrial bldg. with a sign that that FREE) that I didn’t know what to do with it. Now I know what I will try to make. Since the pallet was free and we have lots of leftover wood in the garage, how could I go wrong in trying? What a wonderful idea!

    1. If you have a large pallet, you could cut it in half for a top and bottom shelf – then you’d just need to put 2×4’s along the outside corners!
      Nothing to lose by trying! Send a photo of the finished product – I’d love to see how it turns out!