I keep hearing its good to use this or that for raised gardens. since its always good to reuse and recycle. how safe would it be to use old decking lumber to build the side walls? We have a small deck by an above ground pool, unfortunately time was made it very unstable and we have no choice to tear it down. the wood is grey and is 5 to 8 years old. and the perfect length already. Think that's long enough for chemicals to leach out already? the wood has a little give but I can reinforce. I figure that's the cheapest way we can do it to be ready for next years planting. what you think.. good or bad idea?
I'm all for recycling wood darcymac, but I'd be a little nervous to use it for plants I would eat. Putting in a liner sounds like a good idea.
I agree. The wood would certainly be ideal for raised beds if it's lined with a good quality plastic liner. Remember to punch holes in the bottom of the plastic though to aid drainage.
We built raised beds out of treated wood and then found out it was harmful. We then bought roof flashing, it's a roll of aluminum. I bought some about 18" wide, but it comes in different widths.My beds were 15" tall. I sliped it in between the soil and the wood and folded it over the top edge of the wood.We used roofing nails to hold it down. My soil is protected and no more splinters in my hands from the wood.
All the PT talk these days reminds me of when the railroads pulled up lines and people used the old creosote soaked ties in the garden or for landscaping ... http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_o ... 91c7a6c308 New PT http://woodworking.about.com/od/safetyf ... Lumber.htm
