DIY Pallet Mason Jar Herb Garden Tutorial

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DIY Pallet Mason Jar Herb Garden Tutorial. This post has step by step instructions and tons of photos. A great weekend project for the whole family.

Don’t you love long weekends? I always feel like I get so much accomplished when I have a 3 day weekend. This past weekend was no exception. I’ve been invited to do a Hometalk demo at Milner Village Garden Centre in Langley this Saturday.  I wracked my brain trying to come up with the perfect DIY project. I wanted something that made people stop and take notice but that was easy enough that anyone could do it… if they only knew how. 

When I think of DIY I think of something that you could buy at the store but that you choose to make yourself at home. For me, DIY projects are usually sewing and craft projects. My Dad has owned his own construction company since before I was born. He and my mom built the house that I grew up in. I grew up with a Dad who is handy to the extreme, but I always relied on him (and then The Hubs) to do all of my building projects for me. A few weeks ago I was at SNAP Conference where I spent quite a bit of time hanging out with Ryobi Power Tools and Home Depot. Ryobi gave me the opportunity to play with a bunch of their power tools and I left feeling empowered to take on DIY building projects of my own. 

My DIY Pallet Mason Jar Herb Garden Tutorial is my first venture into the world of DIY building projects. I hope that you enjoy it and that the instructions are clear enough that you feel empowered to take on this project on your own as well!

DIY Pallet Mason Jar Herb Garden Tutorial

Materials:

  • 1 pallet
  • Sand paper
  • A collection of wide mouthed mason jars (you can use a variety of sizes, just make sure that you get plants that are small enough to fit in the jars you select)
  • Drill and drill bits
  • Flat head screw driver
  • Worm clamps (These are the round pieces that will wrap around your mason jars and be attached to the pallet. Available at your local Home Depot, I found them in the section with heating ducts. I used 4″ worm clamps for my large mason jars and 3″ worm clamps for my small mason jars.)
  • Zinc machine bolts and wing nuts (We used 1/4″ -20 which ended up being a great size for this project) 
  • Paint, paint brushes and drop cloths (optional)
  • Herb starts
  • Potting soil
  • Rocks or gravel for drainage at the bottom of your mason jars (I used Mosser Lee river rock soil cover available in the garden section of Home Depot.)

DIY Pallet Mason Jar Herb Garden Tutorial. This post has step by step instructions and tons of photos. A great family weekend project. 6First things first… a note on pallets. When using pallets for garden or home projects you want to look for heat treated pallets (vs. chemically treated pallets). I had heard this before but had not idea how one would tell if a pallet was heat treated or chemically treated. I found out the answer this weekend! When a pallet is heat treated it will be stamped with an “HT” like the stamp above. You will usually find this stamp on the side of the pallet or on the back. If you see the HT stamp you are good to go!

DIY Pallet Mason Jar Herb Garden Tutorial. This post has step by step instructions and tons of photos. A great family weekend project. 1Step 1- Gather together your materials and sand your pallet to remove any pieces that will sliver. I left my pallet fairly rough but at the same time didn’t want the kids getting slivers if touching it. 

DIY Pallet Mason Jar Herb Garden Tutorial. This post has step by step instructions and tons of photos. A great family weekend project. 2Step 2- Paint your pallet (if you wish, I think it would also look nice in natural wood) and allow to dry. We left it overnight to dry. If you want to complete the project in one day leave to dry for 2-3 hours.

DIY Pallet Mason Jar Herb Garden Tutorial. This post has step by step instructions and tons of photos. A great family weekend project. 3Step 3- Once paint has dried, lay out your mason jars to figure out spacing. 

DIY Pallet Mason Jar Herb Garden Tutorial. This post has step by step instructions and tons of photos. A great family weekend project. 5Step 4- Drill holes in each of your worm clamps. (Don’t worry if your worm clamp gets slightly flattened when drilling. As soon as you tighten it around your mason jar it will re-shape into a circle.)

DIY Pallet Mason Jar Herb Garden Tutorial. This post has step by step instructions and tons of photos. A great family weekend project. 4Step 5- Insert bolt through the hole that you just drilled in your worm clamp. Using a flat head screwdriver tighten the worm clamp around your mason jar. (This is a super easy process. On the left hand side of the photo you will see a screw. If you tighten the screw it pulls the excess worm clamp through the screw mechanism tightening around the mason jar. You can make it super tight so that there is no way that mason jar will slip out.)

DIY Pallet Mason Jar Herb Garden Tutorial. This post has step by step instructions and tons of photos. A great family weekend project. 7Step 6- Drill holes into your pallet where you would like your mason jars to attach. 

DIY Pallet Mason Jar Herb Garden Tutorial. This post has step by step instructions and tons of photos. A great family weekend project. 8Step 7- Insert bolts that are threaded through your worm clamps into holes that you just drilled into your pallet. Thread wing nuts onto the bolt in the back of the pallet and tighten. 

DIY Pallet Mason Jar Herb Garden Tutorial. This post has step by step instructions and tons of photos. A great family weekend project. 9Step 8- Put stones into the bottom of your mason jars for drainage. 

DIY Pallet Mason Jar Herb Garden Tutorial. This post has step by step instructions and tons of photos. A great family weekend project. 11Step 9- Fill your jars with potting soil and plant your herb starts. (You could also plant from seed if you didn’t need the immediate gratification seeing your herbs.)

DIY Pallet Mason Jar Herb Garden Tutorial. This post has step by step instructions and tons of photos. A great family weekend project. 10Step 10- Slide your mason jar into your worm clamp and tighten the screw until the mason jar is secure.

DIY Pallet Mason Jar Herb Garden Tutorial. This post has step by step instructions and tons of photos. A great family weekend project. 13Step back and enjoy your handy work! You rocked it! Time to start planning your next DIY Project!

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Like this post? Check out our DIY Rainbow Pallet Flower Garden

Create a bright & colorful upcycled rainbow pallet planter project with these simple instructions from Hello Creative Family. A great family weekend project that kids will love.

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11 Comments

  1. Looks fabulous lady! Can’t wait to hang out with you this Saturday!
    Hugs,
    Jamie

  2. What a cute and practical idea! I love that you added the touch of color too, so pretty!

    1. Thank you so much Jocelyn. I’m glad that you like it. 🙂 Thank you for visiting.

      Best Wishes,

      Crystal

  3. Fabulous idea and practice, I can not wait to do it at home with the little ones.
    Thanks for sharing!

  4. In the past, I have used mason jars for small and medium flower arrangements. However, I have never used them to grow anything. These are great ideas, thanks for sharing. It’s true we never stop learning.

  5. Curious why you put the jars at an angle? Purely decorative or some other purpose?

    Thanks!

    1. Hi!

      Great question. I put the jars at an angle because there is no drainage hole on the bottom. My thought was that if it is watered more than it should be that the water would collect in that bottom corner of the mason jar and not lead to root rot for the herbs.

      Best Wishes,

      Crystal

  6. Rebecca B says:

    This is easy enough that I could put my kids to work on it in the spring and they would love it.

  7. I LOVE this idea! I have the mason jars now I just have to find the right pallet for my space!