GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post - It is safe to use old decking to make veg planters?

Bean · 24-03-2011, 08:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baz[_3_]

chris French wrote in
:

In message , Baz
writes
chris French wrote in
:

In message , Bean
writes

Hi,
I am just about to have a new patio built on the back of my house
which will involve removing a small decking area. The decking area
was built sometime before I moved into the house 3 and a half years
ago. The decking wood looks like it could make several movable
raised planters for me to grow vegetables in on the new patio (I
don't want to put the veg in the earth as I have no idea what it has
been treated with in the past). This has the potential of saving me
70 quid per planter, as well as reusing materials rather than
throwing them out in a builders skip.
I have been reading up on pressure treated wood and it's dangers and
obviously don't want to grow veg that could poison us.

Gut feeling here is that the likelihood of growing poisonous veg
seems small.

Is there any evidence (as opposed to www-supposing/scaremongering)
that

1. There is migration of the pressure treatment chemicals into the
soil at levels that might be an issue?

2. Growing veg take it up in quantities that matter?

And so, finally to my question:
Is there a way to find out if the decking wood was treated with CCA
without sending it to a lab, and if there isn't does anyone know of
a lab that doesn't cost a fortune to test such a thing?

If you are bothered about it, line the planters with heavy duty
polythene sheeting would seem to be a sensible route forward.

That might be your belief, but might not be true.

True, it might not.

As always, be safe, not sorry.

There is no such thing as absolute safety.

A few quid saved is always good but not where safety is concerned.
I am always gobsmacked when people put money in front of safety, and
often childrens safety.

Oh! think of the children !!

Would you REALLY put your familly at risk?

Yup, do it everyday.

No matter how
small the risk is?

Yes, my family is a risk every day, nothing is absolutely safe.
Everyone makes such judgements (generally quite badly) about the risks
of their activities. We make judgements about how to spend our money,
risk might be part of that.

The car we most use as a family is over 10 years old, so a new car
might be marginally safer for the passengers, should I be buying a new
car because of that small increased risk?

We have a pond in our garden, it is uncovered, our children are 6 and
10 and old enough to understand about the dangers, but there is some
small risk that one could fall, bash their head on the surrounding
wall (which they like to stand on), knock them selves unconscious,
fall into the pond and drown. Should we spend the money to fill in the
pond and remove the wall?

Should we spend the money to cut down the trees in the garden, in case
they climb them and fall out and break their necks.

OK.
Baz

Thank you all for your comments.

Baz, I think you are probably right, there will always be that doubt if I use the timber for planters, I'll probably buy or make my own from known timber.