"ned" wrote in message ...
NWalch wrote:
I have created raised beds using railway sleepers cut to size and
fixed vertically. The cut ends are starting to turn white as they
weather.
[...]
I'm sure your local friendly garage would let you have some old sump
oil. I used it on a shed and never needed to treat it again.
:-) Ignore the howls of "You're not supposed to do that!" It works.

Right on! The farmers mix creosote and sump-oil: looks great. There's
also stuff called "black tar varnish", with which I did my shed: it
soaks in, leaving the wood still looking like wood, and also dries on
metal.

Mike.