Pallet Planters -- Add Color and Height to Your Garden!

A pallet planter is a great way to add height and
visual interest to your garden.  We think the brightly-
colored coleus is just stunning in this version!

Bursts of color from overflowing hanging baskets and annuals in flower beds will be seen around town soon enough.  We love flowers in all shapes and sizes, but when we come across something unique, it's even better.  Re-purposing an old pallet is a great way to dress up a less-than-perfect fence or wall, save space, and give some flowering height to your garden all at the same time!  You can use almost any flowering plants you like, and as a bonus you won't be weeding every day :)

Tools You'll Need:
Drill and hammer (only if there are broken spots in your pallet)
Paintbrush (if you want to paint your pallet)
Staple gun
Scissors
Shovel


Materials You'll Need:
Nails (only if there are broken spots in your pallet)
Pallet
Waterproof paint (if you want to paint your pallet)
Landscape fabric
Staple gun staples
Potting soil (around 3-4 cubic feet)
Flowering annuals or other small-leafed plants
Water and sun!

LET'S GET STARTED!

Step 3: Staple the landscape fabric to your pallet.

1. Use your drill to make starter holes and then hammer in nails to fix any broken spots on your pallet.  We recommend using a drill to prevent further splitting of the slats.
2. Paint your pallet with the waterproof paint if you want to -- otherwise you can move on to step three and keep a natural color.
3. Cut and then staple the landscape fabric to the back and bottom of the pallet (see picture), leaving the top open for more plants and watering if you're going to display your garden vertically.  If you are going to leave it horizontal on the ground, staple the fabric over both ends, leaving just the top open.

   

   Step 4: You cannot overstaple this project!  Make sure to
   pull the landscape fabric tight so that the soil won't escape.

4. Don't be afraid of overdoing the staples... you'll want plenty of support for the soil and plants and definitely don't want the fabric to come loose halfway through the season!  Staple everywhere you think soil could fall out of the pallet -- every two inches is a good bet.
5. Bring the pallet near its final destination (it will be heavy to move after filling with soil and plants.)
6. Fill the pallet with potting soil.
7. Plant flowers and plants tightly into the spaces so that the soil will remain where it belongs.
8. Leave your pallet horizontal for about 3 weeks, watering it just after planting and

   

   Step 6: Fill your pallet with potting soil.

   then deeply watering every few days, so that the plants can take root.
9. 3 weeks later, lift the pallet up vertically and enjoy your dressed up fence for the rest of the season!

Tips:

• To find a pallet, think garden centers and other large retailers -- places that get large, heavy deliveries!  Give us a call at (585) 225-7770 and we'll let you know if we have any.
• Remember if you're using a recycled pallet that you want a heat-treated one -- it will have HT stamped on it -- rather than a chemically treated one.  Your flowers will grow better without a chemically-treated home.
• Unfortunately, we don't recommend growing herbs or veggies in your pallet planter because you never know what was transported on it before it arrived in your garden (lots of pallets are reused over and over by different companies in different places), and if they are left outside in damp weather there can be bacteria and mold within.  Then again, if you can find a new pallet to buy (check online) then you could mix some veggies and herbs into your pallet garden too!

Try painting your pallet garden for an even more unique look.

Welcoming Spring with the Kids Grow Club – It’s Germination Time!

The Kids Grow Club members prepare their "pets" for germination.
They'll need lots of water and sunlight in order to sprout!

It’s hard to believe that the Kids Grow Club is in its 18th year this year... the original members must be graduated from high school and possibly even college by now!  For a business whose owners both have young kids (and who used to run around the garden center themselves), seeing kids interested and engaged with plants is just plain awesome.  Sue started the Kids Grow Club to encourage a love of gardening in the youngest part of our population, and we had 21 members attend our April 6 meeting.  Sadly, Beth, who had taken point on the Grow Club in the past, is moving to Maine and wasn’t able to run this meeting.  On the other hand, it gave Holly and Sue the chance to channel their “inner-green-thumbs” and lead the meeting!

Bobo, the Garden Center's pet,
has some pretty lustrous locks.

Without getting too corny, germination is always something of a miracle – through the snow and mud of late winter (finally) come the springtime shoots of bright green – and we covered the basics from seed to seedling.  The kids examined the inside of a seed, and toured the greenhouse to check out seeds, shoots and plants in all the early stages of germination and growth.  Then they created what will soon be a gorgeous planter by each ever-so-carefully planting a seedling.  We've got the planter on display so they (and you!) can visit it over the summer as it blooms and grows.

Audrey and Puss, just a couple of
weeks after the Grow Club meeting!

Then the kids learned how to take care of their new "pets," whose heads have already germinated and are starting to sprout a thick crop of grass "hair.”  Audrey clearly remembered the basics of germination (water and sunlight!); check out the picture of her and her pet “Puss” to the left!  For as loud as they were determining what pet to take care of (will it be the dog or cat, or a little more unconventional with the pig or monkey?) and what color markers to use on their germination worksheets, you can't imagine how careful the kids were with the fragile seedlings at planting time.  They all seemed to have a laser-sharp focus on being as gentle as possible with the fragile little sprouts.  And they were excited to use Grandpa Van Putte’s antique dibble to plant their seedlings.  The next meeting is in July at the Greece Public Library and we’ll be learning all about butterflies… our busy season is just starting to ramp up at the garden center and lots will happen between now and then, but we’re all looking forward to seeing the little Green Thumbs in action again in a couple months!

The Grow Club seedlings are coming along nicely!

Grandpa Van Putte's antique dibble
(a planting tool).

(If you know a child age 5-12 who would like to join the Kids Grow Club, membership is free and they can join by visiting Van Putte Garden Center and asking a member of the staff, or by downloading the application here and dropping it off or emailing it to Sue.)