[Digger Tom]

 I may be able to get my hands on some scaffold boards to make some raised beds from. As they are all odd sizes I will probably make four 6x3ft beds.

 Do I have to treat them with a preservative or can they just go straight into action?

[mumofstig]

They'll last a lot longer if you treat them to a coat of something

[wildgoose1uk]

or even two coats of something like Cuprinol - price seems to vary from £13 - £30 for the same product so it pays ot shop around.

[Kristen]

I wonder if lining the soil-side with plastic - so the boards are not in direct contact with the soil - would also help? (Or is it going to be wet and clammy between plastic and board anyway??)

[Ice]

Treating them is a good idea and stand any cut ends in the preservative for a few hours too.

[Lardman]

lately I've been questioning the point of treating it all.

I've seen how badly the new (domestic) products stand up to moisture, within a year they really need to be coated again. Why bother shelling out for preserve, which isn't cheap anymore when you're only going to add a year to the life of the bed.

Unless you have an urge to change the colour Id save your cash and replace any boards that rot. If they're 1½" you should have 4-5 years out of them before it becomes a problem.

[lucywil]

i started to treat mine with some stuff i had already but when it ran out i couldn't see the point in paying out £10 or so to treat boards that only cost me £2, so like lardman says it probably cheaper just to replace the boards in a few years time.

[rockyracoon]

My OH has a scaffolding business and I've just conned 28 x 3ft boards off him so the kids school can have raised beds.  He reckons no treating as they last for years, and as has already been said, are quite cheap to pick up and replace.

[mumofstig]

the boards themselves seem a very reasonable price.....but delivery was an arm and a leg, last time I looked

[rockyracoon]

try ringing around a few local scaffolding firms, you never know your luck.

[mumofstig]

I tried that and my luck was out at the time

[rusty100]

Scaffold boards are used outside anyway and take a hammering from rain snow frost etc so will last years!

[Will1983]

scaffold boards are treated when they are made with a really good preservative.
scaffold firms cant take any risks with ones that look a bit tatty so regularly condemn boards. these will probably have splits, notches or warps in them, all of which can be fairly easily repaired.

i got all my boards from a local firm for the price of a bottle of red wine for the boss. though i did go and collect them.

[mumofstig]

The ones I used as a base for my greenhouse suffered some pretty disgusting fungus growth during the first winter they were put in.......so anything you can add to delay the rotting is a good idea IMO

[compoQ]

I'm using a load of 'one ton' builders ballast bags to line my raisd bed. They only get thrown away after being delivered to the customer so why not recycle!!

I'm working on the theory they suppresses the weeds on the base and help the wood last longer round the sides.