Sleeper raised beds - line or not

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ssray

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Sleeper raised beds - line or not
« on: May 02, 2020, 20:08 »
Finished my raised beds today, sleeper sized lumps of wood coated with shed/fence paint
I want to line the sides internally whilst leaving the bottom open
Would rubble sacks be OK? Or should I use a weed control fabric?
Ta Ray
IMG_20200502_174936.jpg

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JayG

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Re: Sleeper raised beds - line or not
« Reply #1 on: May 03, 2020, 08:19 »
Nice work!

If the intention is to protect the wood from the damp soil, you need something impervious to water - rubble sacks should do the job, weed membrane (the woven type) is usually designed to allow water to pass through.
Sow your seeds, plant your plants. What's the difference? A couple of weeks or more when answering possible queries!

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ssray

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Re: Sleeper raised beds - line or not
« Reply #2 on: May 03, 2020, 09:32 »
Nice work!

If the intention is to protect the wood from the damp soil, you need something impervious to water - rubble sacks should do the job, weed membrane (the woven type) is usually designed to allow water to pass through.

Thanks very much, it will be the cheapest part of the project

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polo71

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Re: Sleeper raised beds - line or not
« Reply #3 on: May 03, 2020, 14:01 »
Line up to soil level,if the wood as been pressure treated there are chemicals they use in the treatment  that "can" leach in the soil over time.

Pinched from google

 Gardeners have used pressure-treated wood for decades in raised beds and as posts, but on December 31, 2003, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) banned the sale of lumber treated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA) for residential use. Concerns have focused on the leaching of arsenic from pressure-treated wood into the soil, contaminating plants and people. Two compounds, quite similar to each other but sold by different suppliers, have now replaced CCA wood in the residential market. Are these new products safe to use in our home gardens? The answer, unfortunately, is not simple.

The compounds currently being used are alkaline copper quat (ACQ) and copper azole (CA-B). Both contain copper and a fungicide but no arsenic. The copper keeps insects at bay, and the fungicide prevents soil fungus from attacking the wood. In ACQ, the fungicide is quat, which is also used in swimming-pool chemicals and as a disinfectant. One of the brand names using ACQ is Preserve. The other compound, CA-B, uses copper and tebuconazole, a fungicide used on food crops. Brand names of this new pressure-treated wood include NatureWood, Wolmanized Outdoor, and Natural Select.

According to Miles McEvoy, who works in organic certification with the Washington State Department of Agriculture, no pressure-treated wood is allowed in soils used to grow organic food. If you want to meet this high standard, choose a different material. Studies have shown that arsenic from wood treated with CCA leaches into the soil and that copper, although much less toxic, leaches from ACQ and copper boron azole (CBA, a variant of CA-B).

Sally Brown, a research assistant professor of soils at the University of Washington, knows her way around both food and metals. Starting out as a chef and then a food broker between farmers and restaurants, she became fascinated with soils and went on to earn a PhD in agronomy. Brown’s current research includes identifying the mechanisms by which organic residuals reduce the availability of soil metals to plants. She has some hard-earned opinions.

Brown says that if you already have the older, arsenic-treated wood in your garden, don’t panic. Plants will not take up arsenic unless the soils are deficient in phosphorus. That is not a problem for gardeners who use compost generously. As for the new copper-based wood treatments, Brown believes the actual risk is minimal. First of all, if plants take up too much copper, they will die before a gardener can eat them. In addition, if homegrown vegetables make up a small percentage of the diet, exposure to any metal taken up is insignificant. Do not use copper near ponds and streams because it is toxic to aquatic life.

The perceived risk is another story. Gardening can be just as much an act of faith as it is science, and the opinions of all the scientists in the world may not convince you to let pressure-treated wood contact your soil. You can isolate pressure-treated wood by lining the inside of a bed with heavy plastic to prevent leaching of chemicals from the wood into the soil. Top your bed with boards of untreated lumber to make a flat top to sit on and to avoid contact with the wood, particularly if you have CCA-treated wood in your garden. Even though the new pressure-treated woods are considered safe, Wolmanized Outdoor, according to its Web site, does not recommend using pressure-treated wood where the preservatives may become a component of food. Its recommendation is to use an impervious liner between the wood and the soil.

Consider using alternatives, such as decay-resistant wood like redwood or red cedar. Discuss with your lumber dealer whether its wood is heartwood, which lasts longer then sapwood from the same tree. If you are concerned about sustainable harvesting of wood, contact the Forest Stewardship Council (www.fsc.org). You may also want to consider another point: Pressure-treated wood does, in fact, last longer then untreated wood, so using it might mean fewer trees would be cut.

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Yorkie

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Re: Sleeper raised beds - line or not
« Reply #4 on: May 04, 2020, 18:04 »
Polo, that's really helpful, but please could you put the actual link to the website you've copied that text from?

Our site policies say:
Quote
Copy/paste from other sites

Original submissions are preferred over all others to avoid any possible copyright infringement. Text from another site should always include a citation but large-scale copy/paste is NOT encouraged.
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polo71

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Re: Sleeper raised beds - line or not
« Reply #5 on: May 04, 2020, 19:00 »
Ok will do, Missed that bit when reading the rules.

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Blackpool rocket

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ssray

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Re: Sleeper raised beds - line or not
« Reply #7 on: May 05, 2020, 22:16 »
https://www.finegardening.com/article/are-pressure-treated-woods-safe-in-garden-beds

If it's of any help...

Sure is, thanks
Lined with rubble sacks cut along the side and stapled into place, 2 tons of dirt later and we have seeds in,



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