Anything safe I can treat the wood on my raised bed with

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I am installing raised beds contained in wooden 2x8's this spring. I will be getting the wood for almost nothing but I was wondering if anyone knew of anything I could treat the wood with that might give me a few extra years out of the beds before they rot. I would like something that would be considered organic or would not leach into the soil.

-- Bob Fade (fadefarm@aol.com), December 22, 2001

Answers

Linseed oil should be safe, but I don't know how much extra life it would give. If no one else knows, you might try some treated, and some not.

-- Rick (Rick_122@hotmail.com), December 22, 2001.

I'm assuming you'll have finished and polished the timber. Personally, I'd go for a polyurethane finish, but that doesn't seem to be what you want. Linseed oil, sure. Floor wax or furniture wax, if you don't mind redoing it occasionally, and closing out any future options. Any number of organic (e.g. linseed) oil-based floorboard finishes.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), December 22, 2001.

I posed the question of leaching to our county agent in regard to use of "treated to rejection" lanscape timbers for raised beds. He told me that the leach factor of ones manufactured in the last five years was a lot less than ones manufactured before and a mulch plastic barrier on the inside of the timber would reduce the risk further.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), December 22, 2001.

If you boil linseed oil and crushed charcoal, this will keep almost indefinitely, so I am told. I'm using it for the same purposes.

-- Bahiyyah (herbal@rn.com), December 23, 2001.

Disregard my previous post. I was in haste before a journey, and I read it as furniture! Heh!

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), December 24, 2001.


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