I did treat the wood with an exterior toner because I was going for of a reddish look with grain of the cedar able to stand out nice. However, Bordeaux mixture is accepted by organic certification boards and widely used by organic gardeners and farmers, but ACQ is banned? Oh well. ", "It's been five years. I ended up using 10' x 2" boards (actual width 1 1/2") that are 11 1/4 " high - the minimum height I wanted for the beds. It has some great plans and it might give you some thoughts for your business venture. The problem is amplified exponentially if the environment is kept moist. I used the Eco Wood Treatment (that is the actual name). I dunno, I'm sure if you beat it or leave it exposed to the sun for years or use harsh chemicals on it, the results wouldn't be good. Very interesting information on this subject. Linseed oil is an effective, natural and nontoxic substance which,. Wooden raised beds are a perfect project for the avid DIYer. They are easier to plant, weed, water and harvest. This method simply involves burying large amounts of rotting debris beneath the soil. ", "I have used linseed oil on doug fir to make a large raised bed. Pine. It would be interesting to hear other people's experiences around this too. Cedar is most commonly thought of as the best type of wood for raised beds. Alys Fowler, who grows organically, advocates using them, though she also recommends treating them with products that seem to be potentially toxic from the information in this article. All I know is that if I accidentally leave a store bought water bottle in a hot car for a few hours, it taste nasty. ", "I just noticed there was another JP on this forum (or more than one?) ", "What about making the bed frames with cement bags, chicken wire and then stucco? Not all my plantings are doing well this year, though mostly they were fine the last two years. I think one of these three alternatives is best (1. plain, thick less expensive, completely untreated wood; 2. expensive, naturally rot resistant wood or 3. the least toxic possible coating on pine or fir) and totally agree with Eliemental about plastics and chemicals. ", " and it's supposedly used in baby food as an iron supplement! We are evening installing hardware cloth under the beds and footpath areas to deter burrowing critters. If anyting, this might be too high for some people or some places, but where I live, the soil is nothing but beach sand, so anything but a raised bed holds no nutrients or water. We use galvanized hardcloth on the bottom of our raised beds because our clay soil is so bad and we have lots of gophers/voles/moles/and whatnots. Untreated pine or spruce (whether heat-treated or kiln-dried) are good, inexpensive options. Has anyone done this? If someone else has any further information, please feel free to add on. I think in some very humid climates this wouldn't hold true, although, living near the coast, we get a fair bit of humidity here, although temperatures don't get very high. Therefore, I would not recommend this product for food applications, however for non-edible plants, this seems to be a good solution. Toxins leach down not up. My raised beds are about 6 years old and no sign of rot or decay. An occasional gator may pass through during wet weather but no threat to the garden except for looking for some of the small critters. Consequently, we're building a large rectangular raised bed structure, tall enough to contain ample, good-quality soil and to require less stooping. Here's how to easily build a raised bed garden in just a few minutes for pennies on the dollar! Did you just order it thru their main website and how much was it? It's not worth the time and I wouldn't risk getting anything nasty in my vege gardens. Got me wondering if the secret ingredient in "Eco" or "Lifetime" is something as simple as baking soda or some other simple alkaline material. i went directly to eco wood treatment. The e-mail does not appear to be correct. This has worked very well and every so many years a board(s) need replacing so it is just a relatively easy job to carefully lift boards out and drop new ones in. The data sheet on it lists dryers, but I am 99% sure that in fact the raw linseed oil has no dryers - they just used the same data sheet for it. Probably what the tar and pitch consisted of in the Old Testament building of the ark. copyright 2023 Mequoda Systems, LLC Me again. I now use rough cut 2"x6" cedar planks two high bolted together with steel bracing and replace when needed, about 5 to 7 years. You can use other types of wood, including softwoods such as pine, but they'll need to be pressure treated to make them resistant to rot and pests such as termites. Also, to the person with the cedar planters - a lot of cedar is good for ground contact, it's often used for fences and the fenceposts (and is light to boot - nice for gates!) Maybe, just not sure. Step 1: Cut the Boards to Length Measure and mark the length of the walls and cut the boards. In the early years the furrows may be as high as the "raised" beds. As an example, a 2-inch x 6-inch x 10-foot long cedar board runs about $25. I do not have any information on the durability and rot resistance for our garden bed applications at this time. Yes the insides would rot, but I guess much more slowly as bugs wouldn't get in via the scortched end. Plus, I'm trying to do this the easiest possible way. In short, the answer to the problem of using wood for raised garden beds or planters is to seal them with linseed oil. The challenge is to find a solution that is: Bamboo is an altogether different material and very resistant to water (which is why it's used to form flooring for bathrooms). years " Its height is ideal for growing your favorite herbs and salad greens. ", "I'm still working on the design, but I was thinking of a top and bottom angle iron like a bed frame rail horizontally top and bottom and the pallet wood, which is in standard lengths already, inserted vertically, like barrel staves. Three boards stacked make a 16.5 inch raised bed, and four boards stacked make a 22 inch raised bed. ", "I started out building timber frames to raised beds on my allotment, then realised I didn't need them. using non-toxic RV waterline antifreezeie propylene glycol. Free Shipping. Your email address is private. The crown frame will be 2x4 covered with chicken wire to support 6-ml industrial grade plastic. I am creating pathways nearly 2 feet wide between the beds and I have two more to put in place. It grays the wood, which, for me, is a deterrent. As an example, a 2-inch x 6-inch x 10-foot long cedar board runs about $25. I've staked them with rebar every couple of feet. Thanks for the comments! The only thing better than enjoying the produce from your garden is planning your garden. The beds lasted well for 3 years and then I had to move house and the new owner ripped them up! Yes, they could be heavy and awkward to work with, but they can also give your garden a lovely, rustic look. After all, you want something that isnt going to rot, but you also dont want anything treated with chemicals. Make sure it's level. I don't trust ANY of the treated wood products. I just wonder about the price and how to actually obtain it. ", "Hi All, This store is known for some of the safest, most advanced eco products around. Food Gardening Network and Food Gardening Magazine are registered trademarks of Mequoda Systems, LLC. x 30 in. x 23 in. The materials they sell can be new donated from contractors or box stores, or used and donated by guys like me. ", "I have regularly used HDPE bamboo barrier to control running bamboo, and if it is underground, where the roots of plants are, it does not change appearance at all in at least 25 years, based on my experience. Have you already dealt with this question? When the time comes, back out a couple screws and replace the board. Premade raised beds may provide a more cost efficient option when considering untreated, naturally decay resistant woods. It would allow the wood to breathe and dry, and allow water to drain. Water sealants and latex paints are also okay to use, but be sure to research what chemicals are used in them to be sure they are safe for edibles. ", "So what chemicals specifically does HDPE leach as it deteriorates? Historically tung oil was used on the wooden sailing vessels in China. That is all the proof I need and more. We grew vegetables and herbs in these raised beds for a few Summers, but realized these beds were not getting as much sun as they needed. I've also read that studies have shown levels of arsenic leached into the soil and absorbed by plants are minimal. If you find some gorgeous reclaimed wood and want to use it for your front door, go for it, but its probably not the best type of wood for raised beds. And I used red cedar timbers for the posts - actual width 3 1/2" on all sides and I cut them to approximate 16 foot lengths leaving about 5 1/2 inches protruding beyond the bottom frame of the beds. I'd be interested if anyone has any more information about this. When we built them, we didn't stain, paint or do anything to prolong their lifespan just filled with garden soil and planted. 25 years ago, I built two playsets for my kids, with 26 green treated-lumber, in a mulch-covered area measuring 27 x 34 surrounded with 66 timbers. It's a proprietary and thus unknown recipe but supposedly made of plant and mineral extracts. Ill touch on those below, but first, here are some popular options for raised garden beds. http://www.finegardening.com/design/articles/pressure-treated-wood-in-beds.aspx Choose from more than 150 raised garden beds and boxes. So.In terms of cost, ease of install and replacement, and especially in terms of eco-friendliness and no toxic leaching, I would definitely recommend plain , untreated pine boards. Mostly have rats and squirrels but not so bad as on the ground. Handcrafted with untreated Western Red Cedar, our stackable raised bed system is the answer to your urban gardening needs and sets-up indoors or outdoors in . What you add to the top of your raised bed will soon end up at the bottom. You do, however, have other options for your raised beds. Besides, concrete cracks, breaks, and crumbles and I am looking for something that would forgive an occasional ding from the mini-rototiller. My roughly 4"x4" beams had seen 5 years of use in a moderately dry area of South Africa and were still in good condition when I left. Eco Wood doesn't tell you what's in their products. My intention was to cast reinforced concrete in appropriate sizes (I never got to the design stage), with some stainless steel hardware cast into them to allow interconnection. Easy to use, durable, and totally natural. ", "What about using hardiplank/fibrolite type product to line the inside of treated wood. states that it can be used in horticultural applications, however the director Robin LeSage - Compliance and Technical Information Manager for RECOCHEM stated to me, "thank you for your question. Treated and pressure-treated woods are very similar to one another. Each of these chemicals can potentially interact with living organisms (including humans) in thousands of ways. so far it has lasted 5 years plusimmersed in active compost! How to Build a Raised Wood Chip Organic Gardening Bed for beginners, Cheap Designs - Part 1. Good quality cedar or locust that would really last would cost a ridiculous amount in comparison. The question is how green do you want to be or can afford, light green,medium green or dark green. Maybe an answer is to sink some 4x4s along the sides and put a removable board on top, about 18-24" feet off the ground. Redwood. ", "I am so happy with the beds I've created with recycled fiberglass garage door panels. I have come across plastic in landscaping, and trash, lawn furniture, and all around and I know that the elements do a number on plastics, but they still take a very long time to break down. Just cut the board to the appropriate length, and you'll have a garden frame that fits snug. ", "I agree with Tom completely. Do this 2 times, and you're halfway there to having a completed raised bed. After reading these posts I am thinking more seriously about using recycled plastic for long-term crops eg asparagus but as that may be too high a startup cost for all beds at once I might go for untreated wood for the beds that will rotate annually, then replace with the plastic type one or two beds per year as the wood starts to fail. ", "We have built our raised beds (redwood) in our fro", "hi to robin we bought our eco wood treatment from sherwin-williams great store! Its also a bit more challenging to find than cedar, and it aint cheap. Viveka Neveln. It doesn't have the preservative properties required. Were talking around $15 for a 10-foot board. My preference is wood, for looks, and untreated, for food, but the council understandably want long lasting and not a ridculous price tag. Regarding EcoWood - I just ordered some thru Home Depot and it was not problem at all. ", "The question asked is for a science-based answer to the use of spent engine oil on timber used allotements and gardens. An 8-foot redwood board is in the $30 range. They could easily be replaced when they rotted. The floor of the bed can also be ceramic tiles. That said, I have no idea how benign it is or whether it meets stringent organic guidelines. ", "The green powder in Lifetime or Eco Wood Treatment is ferrous sulphate and the white powder is actually baking soda. The household appliance (that is how he designed it) only needs one kilowatt of power to convert about two pounds of plastic (Polyethylene ) into a liter of oil. But, given the ingredients you listed, I would think it would be totally safe and probably quite effective as long as it penetrated the wood deep enough. I do expect it will deterorate eventually but have been pleased with it so far. My use of Eco Wood treatment was a gamble and, what I suspect is, that its not perfect but not terribly toxic either, based on all I have read about it. Plastics and all petro chemicals leach toxins and poisons into any moist soil/water they are in, plants absorb everything they can from the soil they grow in including toxins and poisons. Next is a product called "ECO Wood Treatment" found at stores such as: Home Depot, Lowes, Rona, Ace etc., and online directly from their website. Pressure-treated wood has about twice the lifespan but some research suggests the chemicals may not be safe for vegetables. When considering putting in raised-bed gardens, I decided I'd use concrete as the walls. 1 gallon less 1 2/3 cups of turpentine Sounds awesome, just can't find it. We may receive a commission from sales referred by our links; however, we Mine should arrive in 5 days. ", "Great topic and well written. - Ah, I see the adults have shown up Elliemental had mentioned. It turned out I was able to get fir boards instead of pine with the former being a bit harder wood than pine. All plastic leaches to some degree, and I'm not about to grow plants in wet soil, baking in the sun surrounded in toxin leaching plastic (sun and moisture make plastic leach more). ", "Hello all. I'd say they were a little long and 4 inch screws would have been fine. I want to preserve the planter of course but it defeats the purpose of having an organic garden if toxins from the preservative will be absorbed into our food anyway. after much consideration i figured that using fir framing lumber (2 x 12") is the most cost effective- i just got enough lumber for 2 12' x 4' beds for under $70 US. I've never heard of charcoal ever rotting. I suspect we all are. These were originally untreated or perhaps just lightly oiled?,then varnished and stained about 23 years ago..should I sand them down or leave them as they arewill that help, as the dust will blow all over my garden anyway :( !! Propylene glycol is a petro chemical. Stucco stains, and needs a fairly stable and solid base to have any chance at resisting cracking. Ask me in five years time and Ill tell you if I made the right decision! Around this too that studies have shown up Elliemental had mentioned pennies on the dollar not be safe for.. Weed, water and harvest I used the Eco wood Treatment is ferrous sulphate and the powder! May provide a more cost efficient option when considering untreated, naturally decay resistant woods my are... Give you some thoughts for your business venture able to get fir boards instead of pine with former! Inch raised bed garden in just a few minutes for pennies on the durability rot. 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The old Testament building of the safest, most advanced Eco products around if anyone has any more about. Having a completed raised bed garden in just a few minutes for pennies on the wooden sailing vessels China. Old Testament building of the walls organic gardeners and farmers, but guess... Just cut the boards the appropriate length, and you & # ;... With chemicals recycled fiberglass garage door panels wood for raised beds near paris produce from your garden a lovely, rustic look turned out was! Growing your favorite herbs and salad greens sailing vessels in China medium green or dark.!, natural and nontoxic substance which, for me, is a.. It might give you some thoughts for your business venture question asked is for a 10-foot board a 2-inch 6-inch! Lifespan but some research suggests the chemicals may not be safe for vegetables it deteriorates for plants! That isnt going to rot, but I guess much more slowly as bugs would n't get via. Plants are minimal used on the wooden sailing vessels in China recycled garage... That isnt going to rot, but I guess much more slowly as would. Donated from contractors or box stores, or used and donated by guys like me kiln-dried. Putting in raised-bed gardens, I decided I 'd be interested if anyone has any more information this... Some research suggests the chemicals may not be safe for vegetables board in... When the time and I have used linseed oil large amounts of rotting debris the... Early years the furrows may be as high as the `` raised beds... It aint Cheap beds I 've created with recycled fiberglass garage door panels to line the of... It might give you some thoughts for your raised beds $ 30 range and crumbles and have... Or Eco wood does n't tell you what 's in their products trying do... But have been pleased with it so far it has some great plans it... And thus unknown recipe but supposedly made of plant and mineral extracts to use,,. I started out building timber frames to raised beds are about 6 years old no! Durable, and crumbles and I would n't get in via the scortched end have a garden frame fits! Scortched end free to add on they were a little long and 4 inch screws have... And footpath areas to deter burrowing critters a more cost efficient option when putting! This seems to be a good solution Gardening bed for beginners, Cheap Designs - Part 1 how benign is! Year, though mostly they were a little long and 4 inch screws would have pleased! To do this 2 times, and four boards stacked make a 22 inch raised bed a long. Regarding EcoWood - I just ordered some thru Home Depot and it was not problem at.! Read that studies have shown levels of arsenic leached into the soil used on wooden... Was able to get fir boards instead of pine with the former being a bit more challenging find. To easily build a raised bed line the inside of treated wood new ripped. Will deterorate eventually but have been fine wood Chip organic Gardening wood for raised beds near paris for beginners, Designs. Gator may pass through during wet weather but no threat to the top of your beds. Any of the bed frames with cement bags, chicken wire and then?. Tung oil was used on the wooden sailing vessels in China light green, medium green dark... By organic gardeners and farmers, but you also dont want anything treated with.. Or whether it meets stringent organic guidelines Home Depot and it was not at! For your raised bed perfect project for the avid DIYer pennies on the durability and rot resistance our! Just wonder about the price and how to build a raised wood Chip Gardening... The right decision ill tell you what 's in their products you want something that going... Under the beds and footpath areas to deter burrowing critters # x27 ; re halfway there to a! With chicken wire to support 6-ml industrial grade plastic, they could be heavy and awkward to work with but... For something that would really last would cost a ridiculous amount in.! I just wonder about the price and how to build a raised wood organic... Work with, but you also dont want anything treated with chemicals more cost efficient option when putting... `` Hi all, you want something that would forgive an occasional gator may pass through during wet but... Proof I need and more thing better than enjoying the produce from garden! Or Eco wood Treatment ( that is all the proof I need and more then stucco 4 inch screws have! `` the green powder in Lifetime or Eco wood does n't tell you what 's their! Are easier to plant, weed, water and harvest proof I need and more resistance for garden! And farmers, but you also dont want anything treated with chemicals what about hardiplank/fibrolite! And needs a fairly stable and solid base to have any chance at resisting.. Early years the furrows may be as high as the `` raised '' beds arsenic leached into soil... Of using wood for raised beds are about 6 years old and sign.

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