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Post by jasper6 on Jun 17, 2019 11:47:42 GMT -5
I am looking for some expertise around a raised bed vegetable garden. I'm currently building several raised beds but for financial savings have gone the route of reusing old treated wood (the bulk of which is 20+ years old) to build the bed frames. Realize this is not ideal but the cost of cedar or another hardwood was just too considerable. That said to the extent possible I am trying to keep the garden organic and currently reviewing the best options to prevent any leaching of chemicals from the wood frame into the soil. I was considering lining the wood with plastic sheeting and then landscape fabric though am also concerned about residuals chemicals from the plastic liner. Does anyone know of any materials that have limited chemicals that would act as a suitable liner to prevent any leaching from the wood into the soil? Any recommendations or guidance you could provide would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Dan
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Post by tom 🕊 on Jun 17, 2019 13:20:52 GMT -5
Does anyone know of any materials that have limited chemicals that would act as a suitable liner to prevent any leaching from the wood into the soil? I'm no expert, but I'd suggest scrap vinyl siding or sheet metal.
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Post by binnylou on Jun 17, 2019 16:16:19 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum, jasper6/Dan. I don’t have any advice about what you might use to line your raised beds, but there is a thread titled “Raised Bed: Building and Tending Them”. You might find it interesting. I do have 9 raised beds. They are 4 x 8, knee high, and built of untreated cedar. I started out with just one bed, and over several years, we’ve been adding them. The five newest ones have hardware cloth covering the bottom of the raised bed. The oldest one still looks as good as the new ones. We like pictures, so, consider sharing pics your bed building. I’m sure others will chime in about using a lining material for your new beds. Glad you stopped by.
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Post by SpringRain🕊️ on Jun 17, 2019 16:52:09 GMT -5
jasper6 , welcome to the forum.
I don't have any experience with raised beds, but am interested in your question and did some quick research. I was fortunate enough to find a source with information on various types of liners and their potential impact.
ecologycenter.org/blog/building-raised-beds-for-planting/.
The only plastic addressed is plastic lumber. There's no mention of just plain old plastic, as in plastic sheeting. But there are other suggestions, including the use of landscape fabric (first paragraph after the list of potential liners). You'd have to do some price comparisons though to determine which is the most practical. I checked out the Board of Directors to get an idea of the experience, background and sophistication of this group, including whether it was an ad hoc group of interested people or a group with education in the subject. I think it's the latter.
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Post by jasper6 on Jun 18, 2019 8:19:08 GMT -5
Thanks for all the feedback - I’m going to follow up with the folks at the Ecology Center to elicit their thoughts as well.
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Post by Mumsey on Jun 18, 2019 10:30:03 GMT -5
jasper6, Welcome! Let us know how you end up doing those raised beds, cuz inquiring minds wanna know! We love pics.
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Post by jasper6 on Jun 18, 2019 11:20:49 GMT -5
Here are some working images
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Post by binnylou on Jun 18, 2019 12:16:43 GMT -5
Wow!! That’s mighty handsome, jasper6. Looks like you’ve put a lot of planning into your project.
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Post by martywny on Jun 18, 2019 14:42:32 GMT -5
jasper6, I like that fence, too. One addition I'm making to my beds with 1" boards is a threaded rod across the middle to keep the boards from bowing out. The 2" board beds are pretty solid. I made mine from rough cut larch which is reasonably priced and rot resistant.
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Post by binnylou on Jun 18, 2019 15:17:51 GMT -5
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Post by SpringRain🕊️ on Jun 18, 2019 17:25:56 GMT -5
jasper6,very impressive! I don't think I've ever seen soil that black.
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Post by binnylou on Jun 20, 2019 15:02:20 GMT -5
jasper6, what are you going to plant in those handsome raised beds?
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