A GARDENING guru has shared a step-by-step guide on how to turn a pallet into a raised bed – and it’s so easy. 

James Prigioni, from New Jersey, US, took to his social media account to share the process, explaining that the very first step is to collect the pallet. 

“Ideally we need one with a stamp on it that says ‘HT’, that stands for heat treated,” he told viewers. “We do not want one with a stamp that has MB on it, that stands for methyl bromide and it’s toxic.” 

Methyl bromide is a pesticide used to fumigate any pests that might live in wood. 

The best part about this whole process is that you can nab yourself a pallet completely for free by going to a recycling centre. 

“What I did was go to my local recycling centre and fortunately they had a bunch of pallets stacked up,” he explained.

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“They allowed me to grab one, this made it so I could select a good one.” 

James said it’s always worth taking some time to find the best quality pallet available as it’ll make building the raised bed “a lot easier”. 

The expert then warned DIYers from using a pry bar to remove the screws, explaining that it could lead to a potential split in the wood.

Instead, he said you should use a circular saw to cut through the wood while keeping it as close to the nails as possible. 

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Once the two sides were done, he then moved on to the middle section of the pallet. 

In a bid to be able to use the entire slab of wood, he used a flat-faced sawzall to cut through the nails wedged between the two pieces. 

After all the pieces were completely removed from the structure, James said he needed to make sure each slab had a square cut at the ends. 

Cutting each one to be the same length and shape, he lined a set of three pieces together and repeated this process twice more. 

James then cut three slabs of wood, which measured 43 inches (109.22cm), in half in order to create a base for the sides of the raised bed.

To start with one simple pallet and build a raised bed for free… Can’t beat that.” 

“All of our pieces are cut and we can begin assembly,” he shared, before clamping three pieces of wood together. 

He then cut another piece of wood to place in the middle to use as a brace, which he secured with six nails. 

James then repeated the process for each wall of the raised bed, ensuring he had four sides in total to assemble together. 

Moving to a flat piece of wood on the grass, he then took two sides and placed them together. 

He explained that he would be using another brace to attach the two pieces together. 

While he may have measured everything to be the exact height and length he wanted, there’s always room for a little error. 

James said that when he lined everything up, the top part appeared to be slightly taller than it was meant to.

“But that’s okay, this is going to be the bottom,” he shared. “The top is going to be all flush, because we’re pushing against this piece of wood here.” 

Once done, he shared: “There it is, I think it came out pretty nice, just to start with one simple pallet and build a raised bed for free… Can’t beat that.” 

He then placed it in the middle of his garden, where he filled it with soil before levelling it all out. 

James planted lettuce, carrots and several colourful flowers, including daffodils and geranium. 

“I’m surprised by how much food I can actually plant here and even flowers – all different kind of plants,” he said. 

James, who posted the clip on his YouTube channel, added: “If you want, you could put some landscape fabric on the inside or if you want you could even use an oil on the outside to preserve the wood.

“But I wanted to build this whole thing for free, that was one of the ideas to just take a simple pallet and turn it into a raised bed and not spend any extra money. 

“This way you can save some extra cash.” 

People were quick to comment on the video to share their thoughts as one person wrote: “I built one out of a pallet yesterday! 

“A complete novice with borrowed tools and it took 2 hours! Thank you so much, a perfect video and easy to follow.” 

Another shared: “This is so helpful!  I have 4 pallets from raised bed deliveries that I am going to repurpose as raised beds thanks to your video.  

“This is really a great design and explanation.  So many building gems in addition to the tutorial.”

While a third added: “I've made 3 of these beds already! They are pretty easy to make thanks to the instructions in this video. Thanks for this content!” 

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Meanwhile, one person has shared how they managed to transform their dull shed into a beauty salon – using faux flowers, £11 paving stones & wood paint.

While another revealed the £5 bargain buys from B&M they used to give their garden and instant glow up for summer BBQs. 

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