Hello friends, how are you? Sewing progress has been pretty slow around these parts lately and I can't reveal recent projects just yet. I thought I'd pop in and share a fun little garden project though, which some of you may have spied glimpses of if you follow me on Instagram.
Back in April we ordered a tonne of sparkly pebbles to give our front 'garden' a bit of a facelift. They arrived on a wooden pallet, which at first I was mostly concerned about disposing of as it's heavy and relatively ugly. But Pinterest came to the rescue once again and I decided to repurpose it instead.
Not wanting to spend a fortune on this project, I bought suitable primer and outdoor paint from Wilko. Although I'm fairly happy with the result, my main gripe is with the finished colour. Summer Rain looks much more desaturated on the tin than it is in realy life, so the finished effect is a lot brighter (maybe a little garish too) than I would have liked. It probably won't take long before it weathers into a more subtle and worn colour though, so all is not lost!
It turns out that wooden pallets make wonderful planters, so if you're faced with a similar predicament, just search for ways to repurpose them and you'll be blown away by the options. I played it safe with minimum fuss and effort for mine, but I know that now my pallet's painted, I can change up how I use it in months to come. Just don't underestimate the time it takes to apply three coats of paint to a pallet...yawn!!!
I've filled my pallet with wonderfully whacky succulents, as well as some pretty flowering plants too. I have a feeling trailing plants would look amazing in a display like this too!
Do you have any suggestions for caring for succulents (I need all the help I can get) and can you share recommendations for small evergreen plants that can survive in winter?
I love this - but it will never work for me. I'm a serial not-waterer and my only surviving containers are humungous. Still, it's a lovely pallet makeover and would be perfect for an herb garden.
ReplyDeleteYes! I've seen these all over Pinterest. Yours turned out super cute. Every once in a while my husband will bring home a pallet from work. I've been thinking about making one over into a little herb garden.
ReplyDeleteLooks great and the plants look fantastic too! www.diyordie.club
ReplyDeleteGreat work, makes your plants look like framed pictures
ReplyDeleteGreat colour choice, you can't bat a bit of Wilko paint ;)
ReplyDeleteThat looks great! We have an old pallet hanging around from when our shed was delivered. I need to give this a try.
ReplyDeleteVery cute! You need to bring the succulents inside put them on a windowsill and water weekly in the Autumn . I would plant the rose over the winter in a bigger pot and replace with herbs or box low maintenance style plants! All the best, Samantha Crafternoon Tea Hostess
ReplyDeleteFor autumn/early winter you could try variegated ivy in some pots and some winter-flowering pansies. Also snowdrops, miniature early-flowering daffodils and irises could replace the pansies or violas once they're past their best. Alpines are apparently back in fashion (I have Radio 4 on constantly so must have absorbed that fact one Friday afternoon), and many are evergreen with interesting foliage in winter and flowers in spring/summer.
ReplyDeleteWish I had a pallet to upcycle now! Looks great.
Wonderful!!
ReplyDeleteWell, that;s a rather good idea, Might have to pinch that! Lovely colour too.
ReplyDeleteHellebores survive (and flower) in a Canberra winter - we don't have snow here, but it is regularly below 0oC on winter nights. So they could work for you too.
ReplyDeleteSome succulents can resist to low temperatures like -5°C/-10°C. I have both the one on first row (on top), third place (from the left) and the one on the second row first place. Both can resist to winter temperatures (mine did ;) I'm living in the North of France) but they really don't like being covered by snow. Snow burns their leaves.
ReplyDeleteThe sempervirum (like artichokes) are very rustic and can be let outside in any weather.
These plants don't mind being over-watered for a while, they'll just grow really quickly during this period.
I had Aloe (the ones with like white spots on the leaves) and I made it rot because of an over-watering... So watch the rain and stagnant water !
But, be careful, succulents, when they like the place where they are placed, grow a lot and very very fast ! Your pots will be probably too small in next Spring :D Mine (ovalata) is almost 15 years old, it is actually a cutting (really easy to do) because the mother-plant died because of snow. First it was a little plant with 3 little leaves and 10 years after, it was a monster more than a meter high. The more you water it, the more it grows ! these plants can bloom, it happened two or three times on my "monster", it was beautiful tiny white flowers.
Anyway your idea of refashioning a pallet is just brilliant !I think I'll copy you very shortly :)
Happy gardening !
Well, this is gosh darn adorable!
ReplyDeleteI’ve been drooling at people’s pallet upcycles for a while now, seeing this was the tipping point.
ReplyDeleteI'm giving this a shot this weekend.
Read more at http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/3-pallet-projects#JLbrBDwILMs0ZuJg.99