DIY Yard

I'm the ultimate person to ask "How can this be made or created!" And I wanted to show you guys the amazing work that we did to our yard this year. I really really wanted to find ways to save and make things on my own. While spending what we saved on an over priced patio furniture set I used the money on plants and my amazing glider! It's my pride and joy. I had to knock on at least 40 different doors all over Neosho and Allen County to find a person who was actually willing to part with it. But in the end I found one that I love and here it is! It's vintage and still has all the original pieces on it! LOVE IT! Plus if you look online they can run anywhere from $500-$1500 and I spent $100!

We had also just planted new grass seed all over the lawn and I really wanted a garden. So instead of tilling and ruining the beautiful yard I decided to go Pallet Garden. I looked on serveral different websites and Pinterest to figure out what would be the best way to go about this. To my amazement I did learn a few essential things. You shouldn't just use any old pallet that you find, as many of them haul chemically treated items.

There are two kinds to look for:
1) CT=Chemically Treated
2) HT=Heat Treated

You want to locate pallets that have been Heat Treated and won't harm the plants that your going to grow veggies from. The stamp looks like this:

I called Arnolds Green House, Leroy KS, and asked if they has pallets they weren't using and they gave them to me for free. I also thought really deeply into the idea of there not being enough room with only one pallet and I thought about creating a sort of "garden bed" with the pallets. So I set up my structure in our outside dog pen, saving the grass, and went to town.

1) I placed 6 bricks along the ground to raise the pallets up off the ground to keep things from turning moldy in the future from water and moisture.
2) I placed 2 full pallets, stacked one right on top of the other, on top of the bricks to create a footing for my garden pallet structure.
3) I then took 3 large pallets, all the same size, and began to tear off the middle planks that run horizontally across the pallet, leaving the end pieces for a shoulder. With all 3 missing the middles I stacked them one right on top of the other and they formed the "bed" I was looking for!
4) I used bracket hooks from Wal-Mart to hook all 3 pallets together.
5) Once everything was stacked and in the location I wanted I bought some inexpensive landscaping fabric and lined to "beds" on each side of the pallet using a staple gun and scissors.

I placed the structure in the corner and planted the cucumbers on the side that they would grow onto the dog pen and vine up. Giving ample space for all my veggies!

Then it was time to add soil. I ended up using 7 bags of Organic Miracle Grow garden soil and I bought an inexpensive bag of mulch to put over the top once the plants were in the dirt.

Then plant your veggies! The garden hold water well and even in this HOT Kansas heat I'm only having to water every 2-3 days. You don't want to over water, it's easy to do, and bad for the plants! When the plants start to droop and look thirsty then it's time to water. I also have a good spot of shade, the pallet isn't right out in the open as most gardens are and they won't burn up as easy in the hot weather.

All in all I've had amazing results with this! Also make sure not to plant your hot peppers by your bell peppers. I put the bells in the pallet and the jalapenos in planters on the ground. You don't want them to cross pollinate in the air and have hot bells and yucky jalapenos!

Here are a few other things we did to the yard.

 I bought a set of patio furniture at auction for 40 bucks. It was old and dated....

and I fixed the nuts and bolts (mostly tightening) and sanded it down. Added a fresh coat of paint and wallah! Olive green cushions and Black Fox paint!

It's fabulous! Once I got the glider I moved the couch into another location. The pallet table was a simple DIY from pinterest and I have gotten soooo many compliments on it. Here is the link for it and it was super easy. I ended up buying the ebony black stain and with one coat I got this amazing rustic finish.

http://www.joyeverafter.com/blog/2011/7/13/outdoor-pallet-table-diy.html

The girls agree that it's fantastic!
I found these chairs in an alley.. FREE

With a scrub brush to clean them, some sand paper to get rid of the chipped paint, and some black spray paint they turned into this!

I added the same green cushions that I used on the rest of the furniture and they look amazing!

So all in all I hope you guys enjoy my yard. You don't have to spend a lot to make a big impact!