Pressure Treated Wood For Raised Beds

Always wash off dirt from vegetables grown in garden beds with pressure treated wood.

Pressure treated wood for raised beds. Garden Use of Treated Lumber. Among those are Eastern Hemlock Douglas Fir Redwood Walnut Pine and Spruce. Ive had my pressure treated wood raised beds for my vegetable garden since 2005 and was recently made aware of the potential risks of using this kind of wood.

Of course the primary concern with using pressure treated wood in raised-bed gardens has been with the arsenic in CCA- chromated copper arsenate treated wood. A good choice for many backyard growers is a raised garden bed. Outside of cedar there are several other varieties of wood that rank high for raised garden beds.

Both cedar and redwood add a beautiful look to your raised bed garden while also employing a natural resistance to moisture bugs and rot. 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.

If you grow edible plants in your garden then have them planted away from the edges of pressure treated wood. He stated in a bulletin titled Treated Wood in Raised Bed Gardening Scientific evidence and data have shown that using pressure treated wood for raised bed or box gardening is safe to adults and children in terms of the plants grown and used in these containers He further explains All chemicals in consumer products have a toxicity and most are very low so they are not a problem especially those regulated by the federal government. Out of the abundance of caution weve always steered clear of pressure treated wood that is until.

Iowa State University Mass. If youve ever looked into raised beds youve likely looked for the materials to build them out of and if wood probably come across mixed advice when those discussions center around using pressure-treated PT wood. The crops should be grown 10 inches away from CCA treated woods to prevent leaching of the chemicals into the plants.

Pressure-Treated Wood for Raised Beds Raised beds are a great way to grow plants as they ensure level ground good drainage and control over the kind of soil in which the plants will grow. Its because sometimes the soil holds higher levels of wood preservatives compared to the plants themselves. Apply a heavy plastic liner between the treated wood frame and your garden soil allowing for soil drainage Source.