Best Type of Timber for raised beds???

Ray1964

I'm just about to purchase timber to make my raised beds and I'm not sure of what timber to get. This is my first time to try raised beds so I've no experience in what to use.

We will primarily be growing vegatables. If I get untreated timber how long will they last? Is there a way that I can get more life out of them without having to get treated timber? Is there an organic treatment that I can give to untreated timber to extend life?

All help would be appreciated.

Regards,

Ray

catastrophy

It's really a matter of personal preference. Lots use untreated scaffold boards, others use new softwood sleepers and others again use treated 6x2 etc.

How high do you want your raised beds, what dimensions etc?

Personally I've used treated 6x2 timber and found it to last perfectly for the previous five years.

barry75

Hi Ray

I would suggest in getting treated timber for your raised beds,as untreated will rot over time with the wet soil against them.You could as get a roll of dpc and staple it to the inside of your raised beds before you fill them with compost/soil.This will help to prevent rot.

Ray1964

catastrophy wrote: »

It's really a matter of personal preference. Lots use untreated scaffold boards, others use new softwood sleepers and others again use treated 6x2 etc.

How high do you want your raised beds, what dimensions etc?

Personally I've used treated 6x2 timber and found it to last perfectly for the previous five years.

Thanks for your reply.

I'm making five 8'x4' 9 inches high and 2 inches wide. I am worried about contaminatiing the soil if I use treated wood as I will be growing veggies in them.

paddy147

Ray1964 wrote: »

Thanks for your reply.

I'm making five ]8'x4' 9 inches high and 2 inches wide. I am worried about contaminatiing the soil if I use treated wood as I will be growing veggies in them.

8 foot long used scaffold boards on DoneDeal for 3-4 euro each.

Ideal for raised veggie beds...you see them used on lots of allotments and even in Bloom for some of the show gardens.:)

redser7

paddy147 wrote: »

8 foot long used scaffold boards on DoneDeal for 3-4 euro each.

Ideal for raised veggie beds...you see them used on lots of allotments and even in Bloom for some of the show gardens.:)

And the dimensions match exactly what you want to do!

catastrophy

Ray1964 wrote: »

Thanks for your reply.

I'm making five 8'x4' 9 inches high and 2 inches wide. I am worried about contaminatiing the soil if I use treated wood as I will be growing veggies in them.

Three scaffold boards will make 1 raised bed for you so it seems logical and cost roughly e15. If you used treated 9x2 it would cost e30 per bed but last longer.

I don't think there is any major health risk from pressure treated timber (try googling it). No doubt you will have some leeching but it would be microscopic.

Personally I love the look of orderly rows of matching raised beds created from treated timber, especially when it ages.

allanpkr

treated timber in my humble opinion is a no no ..no point growing your own then allow leaching of carcingenic chemicals into your veg.
read somewhere else a guy said.." why do we expect things to last forever" which when you think of it ,its true.our mindset has to change. if pine beds will last 2 years thats fine. 4.8 9x2= 15 euro = .900x3.00 raised bed x 7 raised beds =105 euro. x2yrs 14c a day

paddy147

allanpkr wrote: »

treated timber in my humble opinion is a no no ..no point growing your own then allow leaching of carcingenic chemicals into your veg.
read somewhere else a guy said.." why do we expect things to last forever" which when you think of it ,its true.our mindset has to change. if pine beds will last 2 years thats fine. 4.8 9x2= 15 euro = .900x3.00 raised bed x 7 raised beds =105 euro. x2yrs 14c a day

AFAIK....Pressure Treated Timber is Leach resistant.

A bit of DPC around the inside too.....just for your extra peace of mind.

paddy147

Is TANALISED E pressure treated timber safe to use for compost bins and earth retaining structures for organic vegetable beds?

TANALISED E pressure treated timber is suitable for the construction of compost bins and for use as earth retaining structures for organic vegetable beds. The Soil Association (www.soilassociation.org) states that if the timber used for organic vegetable beds is preservative pre-treated then there are no issues in terms of organic status. If, however, the wood is treated once the raised bed has been built (brush applied preservative) then this would affect the status of the land. Please see our Code of Practice and Consumer Information Sheet for more information on the use of TANALISED E pressure treated timber.

allanpkr

i respect your opinion .but tan .e does leech..its made from copper which was thought of as safe. now the organic ass feels copper is bad for the soil. as now they have changed their stance on organic blight comtrol. other point using a DPC leeches even more carcinogenic chemicals into veg than tan E. again i respect your opinion, and if it is ok for you fair enough. but i stand by my option untreated and replace after few yrs no chemicals and cheap to replace

Supercell

Scaffold boards will suit your needs, are cheap and safe to use. They'll last about five years by which time you'll probably want to dig up the entire garden as your passion consumes you! At least thats what happened to me

paddy147

allanpkr wrote: »

i respect your opinion .but tan .e does leech..its made from copper which was thought of as safe. now the organic ass feels copper is bad for the soil. as now they have changed their stance on organic blight comtrol. other point using a DPC leeches even more carcinogenic chemicals into veg than tan E. again i respect your opinion, and if it is ok for you fair enough. but i stand by my option untreated and replace after few yrs no chemicals and cheap to replace

So the above posted info over use of PT Timber from the soil assoosiation is wrong then with regards using Tan E pressure treated timber for veg beds??

Interested to hear/read your thoughts.
Thanks.

allanpkr

i posted my reply on other thread not replying on both thks

paddy147

allanpkr wrote: »

i posted my reply on other thread not replying on both thks

All I did here was ask you a simple question over the pressure treated timber,the soil assosiation and other websites saying thats its fine to use for raised beds and veg.

Sonnenblumen

The trouble with show gardens and TV programs, people assume what they see is best practice.

Show gardens is fantasy world ask any plants person and they'll quickly point many issues with many of the planting schemes on display.

Suggesting scaffolding boards simply because they were featured in a show garden does not answer the thread question ' what is the best timber' and as others have also said scaffolding boards might be cheap but will rot from the start, the question being how fast and how soon you are willing to do replacements.

Gardening on a budget is full of pitfalls, whenever possible if you are planning to do something do it right. Its as simple as that.

Lot of people here seem to be confused with Pressure treated timbers.

If one looks beyond the cheap and cheerful practice of gardening and instead used good materials, avoid wasteful practices etc, the gardens and the environment would be much the better for it.

HollyGC

I know this is an old thread but might be helpful to someone else.

good info here on

www.fruithillfarm.com/info/2017/04/raised-beds

on raised beds especially anyone trying to go organic with non treated wood. And natural products to treat the wood.