This spring we’ve made a variety of garden planters from pallet wood. They’re inexpensive (under £10) to make. They’re quick to make. And they’ve provided a lot of extra growing space.

We’ve used these planters to grow rocket… salad leaves… lettuce… coriander… parsley… spinach…

The beetroot weren’t a success.

Probably for two reasons. This planter was in a draughty place. And second not enough compost got put in the planter. So the roots became very hairy instead of having one long root. Lesson learned.

Anyway, no two planters are the same size. To get different ideas to make planters I would go online and look at Google Images. And that’s where I probably first saw it….

…. The 3 tier herb garden planter.

Wow.

They look so smart.

But I didn’t make one immediately.

Instead, I made a 3 tier tray planter. Similar to a herb planter but with trays instead of boxes. This has turned out to be very successful. At the time of writing this, we have a second crop of the season growing in it which is salad leaves, coriander, and rocket.

When I made it, I used as much scrap wood as possible. I even used plastic facia boards for the bottom of the trays – you can see it on the bottom and middle tray – I have drilled holes into the facia so it can drain.

I gained a lot of confidence from making this planter. And so I decided to make the 3 tier herb planter. The thing that had been holding me back was this; I wasn’t sure of the angles for the planter arms. But studying the photos online it dawned on me. If the mainframe is joined at a 90 degree angle, then the upper and lower arms must be at 90 degrees as well.

Problem solved.

So I needed a good quality pallet. The pallet I got was 1” thick. Decent wood thickness. I didn’t want the planter boxes to bend.

The timbers for the main frame are 3” x 2”.

The dimensions are as follows.

2 x 1100mm

2 x 900 mm

The pallet wood is 1000mm long. The width can be cut to whatever width you want.

Now my herb planter is going to be wider and taller than some of the commercial ones. They’re around 885mm wide. And not so high,  around 800mm I think.

I figured I could make a bigger one because I knew the quality of wood I was using would be better. You can please yourself.

Start by joining the main-frames together. You need a 200mm overlap. This overlap determines the depth of the planter box. 200mm gives plenty of room for herb roots to develop and flourish.

I measured and cut out a joint for the frame timbers in the middle of the 1100mm timbers. The joint is 20mm deep on both timbers. The joint width is the timber width. That’s because you want the timbers to fit into the joint for strength. Measure 200mm from the 900mm timber. Have this 200mm sticking out from the joint. This is the supporting arm for the middle herb tier.

Next measure 200mm from the top and bottom of the 1100mmm timbers. Now cut out a 20mm deep joint. These are to support the bottom and top herb tiers.

Now screw the supporting arms in place with 80mm screws. I put two in each arm. For added strength, I drilled holes and used one 80mm nut and bolt for each join. You’ll need six nuts and bolts.

Once you’ve secured the supporting arms, it’s time to ensure the legs sit on the ground. For this, you’ll need a spirit level…string…length of timber. Run a line from the bottom corners of each timber frame length. Now mark with a pencil line. You’ll see a diagonal that needs cutting. Cut this diagonal off with a handsaw… chop saw… circular saw.  Now the leg sits parallel to the ground

Now you have two frames made that sit squarely on the ground.

Next screw on your pallet lengths. Use 40mm screws. You’ll end up with three tiers. It’ll look like a tilted bookcase at this stage.

Now make ends for the tiers from pallet wood. What I did was hold up a piece of pallet wood to a tier and mark around it with a pencil. I then cut to shape. Again use 40mm screws to secure it. Repeat.

And that’s it.

You’ve made it.

You will need to paint it though because the pallet wood isn’t treated with preservatives. I bought an £8 tin of larch wood paint. I gave it two coats.

When your paint is dry, fill the tiers with compost. And plant with nine herbs. Threes herbs for each tier. We planted chives…sage…rosemary… tyne… ABCDE…XYZ….

Place your herb planter in a sunny spot out of the wind. And watch your herbs flourish. Water well.

Our 3 tier herb planter looks super smart. And I hope yours does too.

In addition, our cat Merlin uses the herb planter as a ladder. He springs up it to sit on the window sill, to let us know he wants to come in. Cheeky eh!