Marlborough Express - Weekend Express
Vertical ‘palletsade’ garden so convenient
On Wednesday I took 15 lettuces into the local community kitchen for the weekly community meal.
They were grown in triple-tiered garden boxes built from free wooden pallets, (obtained from a near neighbour), in compost created by household waste and the mulched trimmings of trees, shrubs and garden.
Yearly the new plantings are placed into refreshed soils from the compost heaps and the old soil returned to compost.
The boxes are typically 1 metre wide, 15cm high and 30cm deep and grow four plants per tier.
They are easily weeded, with little stooping, and watered at the top by a soak hose which trickles into the lower tiers.
The boxes occupy space with good sunlight and since lawn divides the three rows, are easily accessed.
The space between the rows is easily controlled by a lawn mower – clippings to the compost – and the job of weeding between the rows is eliminated.
These boxes house 200 plants, including all sorts of lettuce, rocket, cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, parsley, yams, peppers, chives, bok choi, NZ spinach, and beetroot. In all, the tiered garden which I call ‘‘the palletsade’’ is 21 metres long.
Parts are more shaded than others which allows for some control of light and heat sensitivity, and for a staggered growth rate.
It is just so easy to walk along these rows and pick a fresh salad.
The set up means that an individual tiered box can be placed in a very small space for the most favourable conditions and moved if necessary. The boxes are free, and cost only a few nails for the reconstruction as some pallet nails would not recycle.
The pallet boxes will eventually rot at the base especially, but that is easily replaced at the time of soil renewal, which is itself a simple job for spade and shovel and probably occupies less time than digging and weeding.
You can see a YouTube video on vertical gardening here: https:/ /www.youtube.com/watch?time_ continue=115&v=4HLho4vcJac
The concept is ideal for someone who may not be able to manage a conventional groundlevel system, or who has limited strength, flexibility or mobility (the occasional heavy lifting can be done by an able-bodied friend), or for those with limited space. For example, my daughter’s southern fenced driveway is ideal for tiered planter boxes on the north-facing edge.
My 21 box units, both double and triple-tiered, are equivalent to a garden with 53 metres of plant rows. That equates probably to a 10x4m garden. My growing area is actually one third of that at 12sqm since there is no garden in between the rows.
How well would the concept of this pallet garden work for us older people in Marlborough. It works for me!