Emery Davis wrote:

Around here the farmers use chestnut or acacia for fence posts, because
it doesn't rot
If I could find machined logs, I'd build it with that rather than the
oak. Probably less dear too.

The semi-local supplier does offer English Larch or Douglas Fir
sleepers, which they say don't need treating due to high resin content
of the wood, they would be cheaper if they sold 50mm in the Larch like
they do for oak, but they only do the Larch in 100mm thickness, so it
works out slightly more expensive.

In article ,
Martin wrote:
On 6 Mar 2014 17:05:33 GMT, Emery Davis wrote:

I also have pressure treated pine half-rounds directly in the soil, no
sign of rot after more than 20 years. And also put climbers on the
fencing where there's enough light. Believe me, the ground gets pretty
wet, too! :/ Oddly the rails seem much more inclined to rot than the
posts.

The chemicals used for pressure treating has changed since then. My son's
pressure treated fence posts rotted through after about 8 or 9 years. As a
result one of the recent gales made the fence collapse.
Lindane a poisonous chemical was used around 30 years ago, I recall that a
shipload sank off the Channel Isles in a storm at the time. There were
predictions in the press that it would wipe out marine life.
I went to a steam fair in Woodcote, near Reading in the mid 1984. On the site
was the equipment used for Lindane pressure impregnation of timber. The chemical
had been spilt all around the pressure chamber.

That may be so, but I never came across any. The treatment that was
used then was chromated copper arsenate, which was banned about a
decade ago.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 07/03/2014 13:16, Nick Maclaren wrote:


That may be so, but I never came across any. The treatment that was
used then was chromated copper arsenate, which was banned about a
decade ago.

You have a good memory!
http://www.tanalisedtimber.co.uk/Tan...h-Timeline.pdf

Some other interesting information at that website.

--

Jeff

In article ,
Jeff Layman wrote:

That may be so, but I never came across any. The treatment that was
used then was chromated copper arsenate, which was banned about a
decade ago.

You have a good memory!
http://www.tanalisedtimber.co.uk/Tan...h-Timeline.pdf

Some other interesting information at that website.

Actually, all that I could remember is that the treatment included
copper and arsenic, and it was the arsenic that was banned. I looked
up the rest :-)


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 2014-03-07 13:00:53 +0000, Martin said:

On 6 Mar 2014 17:05:33 GMT, Emery Davis wrote:

On Thu, 06 Mar 2014 14:09:00 +0000, stuart noble wrote:

On 06/03/2014 09:44, Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
stuart noble wrote:


Mine are directly in the ground, because using concrete means that you
can't plant climbers ar their base. But, yes, using a concrete collar
(it doesn't need to go down below 6-9") does help protect weakly
treated posts.


That's pretty amazing


I also have pressure treated pine half-rounds directly in the soil, no
sign of rot after more than 20 years. And also put climbers on the
fencing where there's enough light. Believe me, the ground gets pretty
wet, too! :/ Oddly the rails seem much more inclined to rot than the
posts.

The chemicals used for pressure treating has changed since then. My son's
pressure treated fence posts rotted through after about 8 or 9 years. As a
result one of the recent gales made the fence collapse.
Lindane a poisonous chemical was used around 30 years ago, I recall that a
shipload sank off the Channel Isles in a storm at the time. There were
predictions in the press that it would wipe out marine life.
I went to a steam fair in Woodcote, near Reading in the mid 1984. On the site
was the equipment used for Lindane pressure impregnation of timber. The
chemical
had been spilt all around the pressure chamber.

It was used as a pesticide for many years, until it was banned.
Apparently, it shows up in Arctic sea water still and in worrying
quantities.
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk

On Thu, 06 Mar 2014 18:27:00 +0000, Bob Hobden wrote:

"Derek" wrote ...

"Bob Hobden" wrote:


My interest is why you need raised beds? Terrible waste of ground with
all the paths so you need a good reason to want them.

So you can go pick your strawberries in your slippers :-)

As for building them, I use 'decking' It been down now four five years
and looks as good as ever .


Unless you have a serious problem with your soil for what you want to
grow or need to improve drainage I don't see any advantage. Just more
work, more expense, and less ground to cultivate.

Exactly the argument for building raised beds.

We are going to convert the back garden to a back courtyard.

For the winter months, the lawn is always soggy and you have to change
your shoes to go out there.

On sunny winter days you can't really make the most of it.

The lawn requires mowing on a regular basis.

So we plan to have no lawn, enough hard standing so that we can get from
the house to the garden room/workshop without getting dirty shoes, a pond,
outdoor seating and dining areas plus raised beds for plants and
vegetables. Oh, and a fire pit.

A bonus is that when we become infirm we can still garden in raised beds
where traditional beds at ground level would be too hard to maintain.

So a high initial outlay but from then on a courtyard garden to be enjoyed
all year round.

Can't at the moment decide about the beds - we have seen some made from
seriously thick sleepers which look nice, but if this is going to be a
once built last forever arrangement then we might build in brick and block.

Cheers

Dave R

On 08/03/2014 12:59, David.WE.Roberts wrote:

Can't at the moment decide about the beds - we have seen some made from
seriously thick sleepers which look nice, but if this is going to be a
once built last forever arrangement then we might build in brick and block.

If you want something made of wood that will not rot and will last
years, then go for old railway sleepers made of jarrah wood. The only
problem is if you want them cut to size - even saw blades tipped with
tungsten carbide can take quite a time to cut through seasoned jarrah.

There are a number of suppliers in the UK.

--

Jeff

In article , lid
says...

On 08/03/2014 12:59, David.WE.Roberts wrote:

Can't at the moment decide about the beds - we have seen some made from
seriously thick sleepers which look nice, but if this is going to be a
once built last forever arrangement then we might build in brick and block.

If you want something made of wood that will not rot and will last
years, then go for old railway sleepers made of jarrah wood. The only
problem is if you want them cut to size - even saw blades tipped with
tungsten carbide can take quite a time to cut through seasoned jarrah.

We used the chainsaw.

There are a number of suppliers in the UK.

However, it was common for older ones to get saturated with with tar
or engine oil, during their working life on the railway. That's one of
the reasons they last forever :-)

I used such sleepers to make raised veg beds in my (cold, wet)
Scottish mainland high moors garden.. not noted for summer heat. Even
after 18 years, on a sunny summer day (remember those? ) the ancient
sleepers would bubble tarry oil.. so sitting on them to weed was
inadvisable and even treading on them risks trailing tar smears indoors.

Janet.

I found the simplest answer was 4 inch breeze blocks. You can lay them on side or end if you want, but I just laid them flat, 3 high. If you want somewhere to sit, a couple extra on top do the job. They build houses out of them, so they should last for a good while. They don't have to be cemented in place, which is quite useful if you want to change its shape. The top of the wall is quite useful for growing in pots. You can also increase the height as you grow older. Depends on how much you want to lay out. £50 will make a 5 sq.m bed. 33 blocks for each level. 9 inch hollow blocks could be incorporated which would give some growing space in the wall.

On 01/04/2014 19:28, Bigal wrote:

Janet;999603 Wrote:
In article , lid
says...-

On 08/03/2014 12:59, David.WE.Roberts wrote:
-
Can't at the moment decide about the beds - we have seen some made
from
seriously thick sleepers which look nice, but if this is going to be
a
once built last forever arrangement then we might build in brick and
block.-

If you want something made of wood that will not rot and will last
years, then go for old railway sleepers made of jarrah wood. The only

problem is if you want them cut to size - even saw blades tipped with
tungsten carbide can take quite a time to cut through seasoned
jarrah.-

We used the chainsaw.-

There are a number of suppliers in the UK.-

However, it was common for older ones to get saturated with with tar
or engine oil, during their working life on the railway. That's one of
the reasons they last forever :-)

I used such sleepers to make raised veg beds in my (cold, wet)
Scottish mainland high moors garden.. not noted for summer heat. Even
after 18 years, on a sunny summer day (remember those? ) the ancient
sleepers would bubble tarry oil.. so sitting on them to weed was
inadvisable and even treading on them risks trailing tar smears
indoors.

Janet.

I found the simplest answer was 4 inch breeze blocks. You can lay them
on side or end if you want, but I just laid them flat, 3 high. If you
want somewhere to sit, a couple extra on top do the job. They build
houses out of them, so they should last for a good while. They don't
have to be cemented in place, which is quite useful if you want to
change its shape. The top of the wall is quite useful for growing in
pots. You can also increase the height as you grow older. Depends on
how much you want to lay out. £50 will make a 5 sq.m bed. 33 blocks for
each level. 9 inch hollow blocks could be incorporated which would give
some growing space in the wall.




They're certainly functional, but not everyone's idea of attractive. I
wonder they don't produce something a bit more rustic in colour

They tone down with time, and you can always paint them with old yoghurt or liquid manure to encourage a growth covering. If they were coloured, you can guarantee the price would go through the ceiling.