How to make raised gardening bed out of pallets.

I was wanting to add to my "baby" garden without all of the erosion I had noticed and all of the pulling, turning, and ripping out of grass.  I decided to check out some raised beds...after I picked myself up off of the floor, I decided I WAS NOT paying upwards of $200 for a raised bed.  Yes, $200!!! I couldn't believe it.  For the sized I dreamed, there is absolutely no way this was happening.  So, I set out to make something for free, or nearly free, for something that would've cost about $45 at Lowe's ( a whole lot smaller than I really wanted).

My father-in-law loves to torch pallets in the summer time...I know, Southern past times, he was my first stop.  I loaded up the truck with about 6 various shaped pallets.  I didn't know exactly how I was going to do this, but I was determined.

I just want to be the first to say, no matter how determined I was to build these things, they were extremely difficult to pull apart.  I am pretty handy and the daughter of a carpenter, but that didn't mean that I wasn't a little surprised.

Finally, I got the slats off.  I figured I would be a little better off if I cut the least amount of wood as possible.  I laid out my slats in a square shape, leaving in as many nails as I could on the ends (they were free, so why not?).

The 2x4's would serve as the corner boards.  I guess it was time to get cutting.  I used a regular hand saw and got through them pretty quickly.  The size of the ends would vary on how high/thick the slats are.  I used two slats, so each board was about 8 inches long.

I assembled the sides (not as easy as it looks the first board) and used the nails that remained (free) and just hammered away.  Repeat the steps for the other sides.  Seriously.  It's that easy.  I would recommend putting down some garden paper/cardboard/whatever to keep the weeds out. 

We had some wicked rain right after I filled them (about 6 bags of compost x $2.37) and it barely eroded.  So, for some time and total cost (not including seeds) of about $15 (for the compost) I scored a very nice raised bed.  That is quite a savings in my book when I need about 5 of them, compared to the Lowe's version of the same size.


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48-in L x 48-in W x 6-in H Plastic Raised Garden Bed

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48-in L x 48-in W x 6-in H Plastic Raised Garden Bed

• Item #: 19312
• Model #: SBX-VAL

• Raised vegetable garden beds are made from green-manufactured composite wood that will not rot, splinter or become infested with unwelcome critters
• Frame It All raised gardens are simple to install -- all you need is a screwdriver and hammer
• This 4' x 4' x 6" high raised-garden bed has a 1" profile, sanded composite-wood grain timbers which are manufactured from 60% recycled,...

Now if I can just keep my fur babies out of it.