New garden shed pallet gate and boardwalk – in 1 hour!
Lest you think I’ll never stop playing with pallets, you are probably right. Thing is, I was creating with pallets before they became ‘a thing.’ And since I had 2 on hand and the garden shed needed work pronto, this happened in a matter of about an hour.
It’s a new garden shed pallet gate and boardwalk – in 1 hour! Aren’t they perfectly cute?
Here’s how I did it!
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New garden shed pallet gate and boardwalk
The before
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Welcome to my little rustic garden shed out back. Along with the overgrown plants, weeds and deteriorated little garden walkway made from a pallet that was rotten to the core.
After I came home from Maui, it was a little depressing to sit in our yard trying to keep this Hawaiian tan going. When you come from tropical lush gardens that are watered every night and trimmed every day with everything blooming and fragrant in sight, you’re in for a shock once you plant your feet in your own yard!
Time to clean up!
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I could have sworn the yard looked nice before we left. But I guess everything grew like mad, because I’ve been pruning trees and bushes and kicking up a weeding frenzy since returning!
While I tan. And THIS is why we need to fly away to a vacation! Who can just sit at home? Obviously, not me.
Is your pallet wood safe? Find out HERE
Choose a long pallet for a walkway
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So when I came to that sad shed walkway in front of the compost pile, I removed it to weed under it, but it was so rotten it broke.
For those that ask how pallets last outdoors, they don’t last forever. But I don’t worry about it because pallets are generally free to pick up and easy to replace.
Or if you wished for the pallet to last a long time, you can always seal it with outdoor wood protection.
Would you like to make sure your pallet wood is safe to use first? Ready HOW HERE.
How-to make a pallet boardwalk / garden walkway
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- Clean out area you wish to place the pallet boardwalk, pulling all weeds from underneath.
- Place landscape fabric in the area if you wish to stop the weed growth completely.
- Sand pallet with a palm sander to remove any splinters.
- Protect pallet wood if desired.
- Position the pallet into place.
- Add one sloping board if you desire wheelbarrow access.
Easy! A long pallet like this would also make a fabulous front step for a shed too!
How to make a pallet garden gate
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Once the new boardwalk was in place, I turned around towards the boneyard, and spotted another pallet. After holding it up to the space, the pallet was the perfect size to create a garden gate to hide the mess behind the shed! Perfect!
- Gathering up 1 couple of hinges, here’s how it went up:
- Select a pallet of the desired size for your garden gate.
- Attach 2 gate hinges along one side of the pallet.
- Screw the hinges to the shed so the gate can open and close.
I placed a block of wood under the pallet to give it some height so it would clear the pallet walkway.
Isn’t it the cutest?! Of course, adding wired outdoor lanterns that actually light up would be the bomb!
You could either purchase wired ones meant for outdoor use or place some solar lights inside collected rusty junk lanterns for added ambiance!
Take the garden tour
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After the garden gate and walkway improvements, I did a little more clean up around the garden shed too. Here’s a tour…
The red geraniums and alyssum are growing beautifully, planted inside the long pallet crate on the side of the shed! I love how the alyssum spills over and offers the most gentlest of fragrance as well.
All the flowers are fertilized about once a week to keep them continually blooming.
Garden art lanterns
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A few rusty lanterns were added to the pallet wood garden gate for garden art!
This lantern was screwed to the top of the gate and more were hung from the gate itself.
I love collecting old rusty lanterns! They make the best garden art because the rustier they get, the better they look.
HERE are some lantern garden art ideas.
There will be a HUGE grape harvest this fall. Especially since I allowed the grapes to grow all over the front of the shed. 🙂
Using the garden shed as a grapevine trellis always adds so much charm and a pretty focal point to the backyard garden area.
Keep growing my little grapevine! You’re doing awesome!
The new garden shed pallet gate and boardwalk just really made an impact in the yard as a whole.
Before this little renovation took place, I was having a big ‘ol pity party over the dustbowl styled flowerbeds and spotty looking lawn. The yard just needed more charm without becoming more work, know what I mean?
But a garden shed focal point is easy! And adds so much charm.
See what I mean?
Here’s more posts on the rustic garden shed and how it changes with each passing year.
I love adding old signs to the shed or making my own using THESE garden-themed stencils.
The little rustic garden shed is looking much cuter these days… so glad I made the effort!
Cute addition, isn’t it? Think you’ll give a couple of pallets a chance after seeing how easy it is?
Other garden improvement projects you may enjoy:
Read how this shed was built HERE from a greenhouse!
Visit more recent garden shed posts HERE
Learn how to make this charming garden-themed walkway with scrap wood!
Check out other garden gate ideas
See other pallet projects HERE
Visit other outdoor projects HERE
Love your surprises! Always are great! Pops of red, around the all the neutral woods and greens. And a gate! Awesome
Ha I don’t keep up with it. I’m outside all day about four days a week and by the time I finish the last of the weeding, trimming, hauling weeds and cuttings to compost and trash, it is time to start all over again, there is no end to it if you have shrubs and flower beds. My husband does the mowing, it is so hard to sit on that tank and drive around the yard, he doesn’t do flowers an shrubs so all the trees, flowers, and shrubs is all me and it is a full time job. I love your wood plank gate and wood plank, it goes perfect with your adorable shed.
Beautiful idea! I have just the place to put a pallet gate and save some money. Thanks for the tip!
It’s so beautiful! I love what you did to your shed. It made an amazing impact!
How I would love to live in BC!! Your yard is so lush. You definitely need a barn. You could get goats and chickens, and I would come stay to babysit your herd while you fly away to tropical destinations! lol Maybe you will make some wine with those grapes??
I love this little spot in your yard, Donna! It’s so cute and welcoming.
Always enjoy seeing what you will do next. My yard was once very neat, organized, weeded, and tended. Life happens and has a way of changing things. Now the yard has become what I call the ‘nature preserve’ and is no longer like it was. I have learned to do what I can and not stress over the rest. I have learned to enjoy the natural-ness of my yard. It is still beautiful…even without the finishing touches that it once had.
Consider yourself lucky you don’t have a bigger garden cuz I’m wishing I hadn’t made mine so big. After moving to the country I went crazy landscaping on all sides of the house. I was 40 then but fast approaching 60 and trying to figure out how I can downsize it cuz it’s too much to take care of now. The trees and shrubs have filled out beautifully and it’s beautiful BUT…
I so get it. I was on 5 acres before this place and the workload never ended. I loved it, but you have to be cool with an imperfect yard to maintain your sanity.
My gardener brother once gave me the best tip ever… if you can’t or don’t want to maintain it, just mow it. And that’s somewhat true. The more we plant, the more we have to maintain as it grows. Lawn is the easiest way.
Maybe you should have a free plant party and invite your neighbours to come over with buckets and shovels. 🙂
Beautiful yard and thanks for sharing. We’re in drought stricken California and now have two dead brown lawns and barely any flowers in pots. It’s times like these I’m envious of those that live in the pacific northwest.
OMG! I just noticed that you have a vintage glass doorknob on your shed door. I just LOVE that. Your pallet gate and walkway look wonderful. I really like the rusticity (probably not a real word) it adds to your yard. Is that a honeysuckle vine growing over the roof? It’s amazing and I bet you have hummingbirds too. I’ve slowly started adding more and more perennial flowers to my yard, which means less and less grass to mow. I really like it and so do the butterflies and birds and wildlife. I just spied three black swallowtail caterpillars eating my fresh dill yesterday. I was going to use it to can pickles, but I’d rather have butterflies than pickles!
Funny!
I’m not sure what’s growing on the roof, but there’s a massive honeysuckle vine all over half our back yard chain link fence. I love the roof whatever it is though, I take pictures of it every year. LOL
I agree, perennials are totally the way. I need to remember to pick more up when in town. I have one flowerbed with NO blooms at the moment. Oops.
Love your blog! I keep my yard by constantly tidying and plucking weeds every day and have a BIG cleanup a few times a year. My yard is a large country garden with lots of interesting bits and bobs tucked in all over. And I have a little shed similar to yours which I love decorating, although it turns into a storage shed often! Thanks for your interesting posts and photos, love it !
Donna: Welcome home from Hawaii; must be a bummer to go home from Paradise!
I love your little shed with all the pallets and greenery. I think it really looks cool!
Thanks for sharing…I used to own my own home, but now rent and don’t (can’t) have anything in the yard and do miss all my “junky” stuff!
{{HUGS}} Joy
Wow, your landlord won’t let you do stuff? When I rented, I improved the yard so drastically, they urged me to stay when I needed to move again!
Your yard is so much greener than anything here in CA! To make you feel better, ours is overgrown with weeds right now and it is too darn hot to do anything about it! I love your yard! Have a great week! karen…
I’m now kicking myself for not showing the MASSIVE weeds I pulled in another bed. They were so tall they towered over me! In full bloom of course. I actually thought they were flowers at first so I just let them grow. They were probably the healthiest plants I had… ha!
Now that is my kinda pretty!
Very hard to keep up with a yard by yourself! I am craving a really small space that I can concentrate on and make a huge statement, that will be more satisfaction than a large yard the is just OK. Here in the BC Interior it has been high 30’s C or high 90’s F for so long so I don’t work during the day..before 10 am or after 8 pm and it’s still too hot to enjoy. Watering alone takes hours! Next yard, I’ll do it small and to perfection and just sit and look at it and enjoy!
I agree. I think that’s why I’m always tinkering with the shed. I’m happy looking this way but I don’t dare turn around. 😀
Isn’t our BC weather unbelievable? I’m half tempted to get central air connected after this summer!
I love that Donna! I love the lanterns the most of all i think. Heck, who needs maui!?!
LOVE always amazing what you do , and love all your little touches you add, always inspiring xoxoox
Your backyard is GORGEOUS! Love the new gate addition!
What a perfect little gate and deck duo. It looks fabulous!
Isn’t it funny how your yard seems so different when you return from vacation… kind of like you are seeing it through different eyes.
You are so clever to use a pallet as a gate. I love how you jazzed it up with vintage lanterns. Your shed is charming!
Keeping up with a big yard and gardens is a challenge… sometimes I win and sometimes I sit and stare at it while watching the weeds grow! Interestingly enough… this does not seem to deter me from dreaming of a barn either!
I love your new/old pallet gate especially that genius spade handle!!!! How perfect!
Love it! What a cool idea…you are always so creative! Have a great week.
Leslie
Love your new boardwalk and gate made from pallets! 🙂
Maybe I need a long tropical vacation so I will feel like tackling my yard, because at the moment it could sure use some TLC. It’s tough doing it all alone, I don’t know how YOU do it, especially raising the “kid”. I just have 2 cats and a dog and there aren’t enough hours in the day. (the mowing/yard comes LAST on my list) 🙂
gail
I lurve your space and all your junk. You always amaze me with your creative uses for not so exciting things. :0)
Blessings,
Beth
Donna ~ Your sweet little shed just got sweeter with the addition of this rustic pallet gate! What you can do with a pallet just amazes me!
First I laughed at your comment about planting your feet in your own yard after lounging in a professionally maintained landscape. I get yard envy in many situations where gardening is a higher priority than at my house. It has been a beautiful summer in Wisconsin weather-wise, my plants love it but so do the weeds. It’s all I can do to make sure mine doesn’t look like an abandoned house sometimes. In case of ’emergency’, I have a weed whacker.
Abandoned! What a perfect term!!! Haha! (p.s. I’d die without my weed eater)
Another amazing project with pallets! We have a pallet walkway in our vegetable garden that I love too.
Your yard is perfect! I would love to hang out there and relax. Love that gate you made.
I just love this look Donna. I’m not normally a fan of pallet projects but this one is special! Carol
I love the gate. LOVE IT! I love little rooms all throughout a garden, and this is a lovely little spot. Even though your plot may not be so big, I believe it is so soul satisfying to get your feet and hands in dirt and grass at least once a week. We need to reconnect ourselves to the earth, and this is the best way to get grounded. Love the flower beds too. Sharing on FB today 🙂
Love all the fun things you can do with pallets! This turned out great! Love your garden shed too!
Donna – I love your yard. I’m not a “junker” like you but I love how personal and detailed everything is…what a fun place to be 🙂 Becky
Very nice!
I love it! I would not think it needed it, but it did! It turned out great! Pinning!
sighhhhh…..so envious of your shed. I mean – happy for you and all! but still…so so very envious.
🙂