However while treated lumber will hold up better over time it can also leach harmful chemicals into your soil.
Treated wood for raised garden beds.
You can read more about it below.
How long will untreated wood last in raised beds.
Homeowners ask if it is safe to use treated lumber for garden vegetable beds.
Lamiot wikimedia commons pressured treated.
The safety of pressure treated lumber for raised bed gardens has been examined by several researchers.
A cedar frame can last up to 10 years but one made of douglas fir may last only.
Any wood harvested before 2003 could have been sprayed with cca and might not be a safe choice for your raised bed.
While there is scientific consensus that it is safe to use for garden beds the information below explains what chemicals are used in viance ground contact treated wood for residential use and the results of numerous scientific studies.
Pressure treated lumber what safety should be telling you before use.
Pressure treated wood safety tips the spruce crafts.
This type of treated wood was banned years ago for household use.
Over the years there has been a lot of talk about pressure treated lumber and its use in gardening and specifically for raised beds.
In 2003 wood treated with cca or chromatid copper arsenate was banned in the united states.
If you just found out that your raised garden bed was made with arsenic treated wood if rebuilding is not an option know that plants will not absorb arsenic when they have enough phosphorous.
Joe mabel wikimedia commons there is a long standing controversy in the field of organic gardening.
From what i ve seen the consensus is that the chemicals do leach out of the wood into the soil and are uptaken by the plants in very small amounts.
The durability of untreated wood used for raised beds largely depends on the type of wood used.
Can pressure treated wood be used as part of an organic vegetable garden.
Many new gardeners and even experienced ones turn to treated lumber when sourcing materials for raised beds due to its added protection against moisture and the associated rot and bug damage.
Like most things the more people talk about a particular topic the more the truth gets diluted and the myths and incorrect facts get shared as truths.
Raised vegetable bed with treated wood.
Here s what i know.
Wood that isn t pressure treated tends to rot fairly quickly in contact with the soil.
I also use some pressure treated wood for various garden structures including large raised beds.
While there is scientific consensus that it is safe to use for garden and vegetable beds the information below explains what chemicals are used in viance ground contact treated wood for residential use and the results of numerous scientific studies.
Treated wood predating 2003 is not recommended for raised bed gardening due to the risk of chemicals being leached into the soil.