Tag Archive: recycling
Pallet Precautions
Click on the title for a useful article about checking to see if that pallet you’re planning to use, is safe.
Old School Gardener
You may recall I mentioned trying to convert an old wooden bicycle rack into a plant theatre. These are traditionally structures where small specimen plants are put on display- usually in old terracotta pots. Auriculas and Pelargoniums are some of the plants often used. Here’s an example of an Auricula Theatre recently shown at an RHS show.
- Auricula Theatre at an RHS show
To avoid losing the interesting foliage effects (or ‘bloom’) on some varieties of Auricula, its advisable for the plants to have some overhead protection from the rain. Having recently completed an Alpine planter for the Courtyard here at the Old School Garden (which is now looking splendid- I’ll put some pictures in my next ‘Dear Walter’ letter), I thought this would add another interesting feature. Here’s what the bicycle rack looked like before I got to work on it.
- The old Bike Rack before it’s makeover
It is a relic of the local School at Cawston and must be a good 50- 60 years old. Having reorganised our sheds and so no longer in need of a rack for our bikes, it seemed a good opportunity to recycle something with local historical links. Having measured up and done a rough design, I bought a few planks of pressure-treated gravel boards from a local timber merchant and set to work; measuring out the spacing of the ‘shelves’ that would sit on the angled frame, cutting the notches in this to receive the shelves and screwing them home. Having some black wood stain left over from the alpine planter I used this to give the whole thing a unifying finish that would tie it into the courtyard. Here’s the final result, before and after painting, with the six shelves awaiting the addition of plants.
As I have some pelargoniums in pots I think this is what I’ll use the planter for this year, though I’ll need to purchase a few more interesting varieties and source some old 3″ or 4″ pots. Next year I might do a spring display of Primulas (including Auriculas) as well as something for the summer months. I might have to think about an overhead canopy of some sort to protect the Auriculas from rain (maybe some sort of movable ‘pram hood’ that can be pulled over from back to front?)
Once the new planter is planted up I’ll show you how it turns out!
Old School Gardener
It’s been a while since I gathered together examples of garden and outdoor projects involving the use of recycled or upcycled materials. The previous posts have continued to prove popular. Here’s another set of projects from the beautiful, through the practical to the completely wacky!
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- Cooped up, half -timbered style..
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- Signs of spring?
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- How to use bottomless wicker baskets
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- A garden entired…
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- Pallet table with centre planting feature
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- Fun plant pot
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- Planting rack and planter made out of pallets
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- Bottle and Bamboo greenhouse
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- A playground from pallets
Old School Gardener
Some of the wonderful planting at Queen’s Lower School for girls, Chester
Old School Gardener
A great way to introduce children (and playful adults) to imaginative design, growing and caring…..mini gardens.
Old containers like this metal bath are great for putting some limits on the space and provide a focal point in the garden too…..
…and plastic trays can replicate ‘real garden’ shapes…
or maybe you have some old cracked pots?
…let the imagination run wild and create a whole ‘fairy world’…
..or why not let them loose in your big garden?..
..and maybe even add a miniature (recycled) greenhouse..
Old School Gardener
Old School Gardener
Picture via Royal Horticultural Society Campaign for School Gardening
I came across a few pictures of unusual, but stylish planters most of which involve recycling – hope you enjoy them!
Old School Gardener
Using pallets and other recycled materials to create useful garden equipment and features seems to have really taken off in the last year- at least the posts I’ve made to Old School Garden during that time are among my most popular.
My own exploits to date have been limited to a set of vertical planters, shortly to be used as mini raised beds for some young children at my local primary school. Following a bit of a reorganisation of outside stores here at the Old School, I have a redundant wooden bicycle rack which looks perfect as the base for a ‘plant theatre’ so I might get round to doing that as the days lengthen and (hopefully) the air warms up. In the meantime here’s the latest batch of ideas I’ve gleaned from Facebook sites like 1001 pallets, urban gardens, container gardening and the like. Enjoy!
First some sheds, shacks and greenhouses….
Recycled windows greenhouse 
Stylish pallet shed (or hobbit home?) 
Shack from reclaimed wood 
Pallet play hut 
Airy (?) pallet shed
Recycled windows greenhouse
Stylish pallet shed (or hobbit home?)
Shack from reclaimed wood
Pallet play hut
Airy (?) pallet shed
Next a few planters…..
Upright pallet box planters
Pallet wall frame for pots
Pallet vertical case for pots
Pallet planters in the shade
A patio pallet planter- herbs for instance?
‘A’ frame planters from, you guessed it…pallets
And now some serious outdoor building work…..
A new balcony frame
Fencing
An outside shower
Beautiful patio surface from recycled wood
Finally a few odds and ends…..
Ahoy there!!
Wonderful ‘musical’ play frame
A natty garden shelf/table
Designer seat from pallets
A pallet rocker
Ahoy there again! – arbour from an old boat
Old School Garden 