Grab An Old Wood Pallet And Turn It Into An Amazing Planter For Succulents

There is a wide variety of practical and exciting DIY projects you can undertake using wood pallets. Need fire storage for the winter? Build a budget-friendly firewood rack using wood pallets as your structure. How about a bird feeder, storage shed, or workbench? All can be made using pallets. However, one of the absolute easiest ways to repurpose an old wood pallet is to transform it into an amazing planter for succulents.

The standard North American wood pallet is 48 inches by 40 inches, and is constructed using a series of wood stringers attached to decking boards. When searching for one as a planter, make sure that it bears an "HT" stamp on its side. This means that the wood used has been heat-treated, as opposed to inoculated with chemicals. The heat treatment means that no unwanted chemicals will be leaching their way into your succulents.

Succulents are among the easiest of all plants for beginner gardeners, and they are particularly well-suited for pallet gardening, especially smaller, frost-hardy outdoor varieties, such as Hens and Chicks succulents (Sempervivum tectorum). They are low-growing, rosette-style succulents that can fit in the compact spacing of the pallet planter. Coral carpet (Sedum album), blue spruce (Sedum reflexum), and fairies washboard (Haworthia limifolia) are also good candidates for your succulent pallet planter.

If you can find a pallet that's in good shape, you really only need to remove a few boards, add landscaping fabric in between the deck board rows, and fill those cavities with good quality, well-draining soil. TikToker @timberedvines utilized this method, fastening the heavy-duty landscaping fabric onto the pallet using a staple gun and some nails before propping it up against the backyard fence and filling it with succulents.

Another way you could go about making a planter is to get a little more heavy-handed with the landscaping fabric. Staple the fabric along the back, sides, and bottom of the pallet so you have a full enclosed space for the potting soil. Leave the top of the pallet free so you have an opening to load the pallet full of soil. Once filled, lay the pallet flat on the ground in order to plant your succulents. You can then stand the pallet up and place it where you want it to be.

While many gardeners will choose to leave the pallet outside, you can also bring the planter indoors and hang it on the wall to make an aesthetic statement. Succulents work incredibly well as indoor plants, provided you are caring for them properly with access to sunlight and well-draining soil. But whether you choose indoors or out, having a pallet planter full of succulents is a great way to enhance any garden space.