Just heard a guy at the hardware store say you should never use pressure treated lumber for raised garden beds

I was picking up cedar for my next bed and this older fella was telling his son the chemicals can leach into the soil. Made me stop and check my own plans since I was about to grab the cheap stuff. Has anyone else switched materials after hearing this?

3 comments

3 Comments

henry1505d ago

No way, that old timer actually scared his kid off pressure treated lumber like that? Look I get the concern but modern pressure treated wood isn't the same as the stuff from 20 years ago with all the arsenic and chromium. They switched to copper and other stuff that's way less scary. Still though I can't blame anyone for playing it safe with food you're literally growing dinner in. Cedar is nice but costs an arm and a leg these days. I've built three beds out of regular untreated pine and they've held up fine for a couple seasons now.

adam1865d ago

The bigger issue nobody's talking about is what happens to that untreated pine once it starts rotting - you're basically creating a sponge for whatever bacteria and fungus is in your soil, and those logs are going to turn into a bug hotel way faster than you'd think.

the_rose4d ago

Yeah exactly, the rotting pine thing with adam186 is a real problem nobody talks about.