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I am wanted to use railway sleepers that i have in my garden to make a raised vegetable plot. But they are the traditional type which have been treated with creosote will this contaminate my veggies.
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When i was a kid we used railway sleepers without a second thought. We didn't know they were dangerous
You could try lining the walls of the raised bed with some black plastic or similar, if you are concerned about nasties leaching into the soil. I think that would be my compromise between the lure of the good solid sleepers and the worry about health and safety... hopefully someone will be along soon who has more knowledge about it than me though.Warning: I have a dangerous tendency to act like I know what I'm talking about.
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Welcome to the forum, Aunt sally. Depends how old the sleepers are and how much of the Creosote is left to leach out. From what I've read, most people don't believe the Creosote does any harm but if you are worried, just line the inside of your frame with polythene and that should stop any problems.I you'st to have a handle on the world .. but it BROKE!!Comment
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I agree with tuthers! Old railway sleepers will probably only pose a problem where they are cut!My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)
Diversify & prosper
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The main problem I have with Sleepers is how wide they are - takes up quite a lot of space if you have, say, four zones side-by-side for crop rotation. 6" wide are they? that's a foot per zone, 4' overall, that's enough width for a fifth raised bed!
But they are strong and durable enough to do a good jobK's Garden blog the story of the creation of our gardenComment
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Not all sleepers are 6" wide, depends on where they come from...so you might not waste as much space as you feared. Make sure you have some help - they are extremely heavy to lift!Growing in the Garden of England
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Hi Aunt Sally.....Like you we already had some old railway sleepers and decided to use them for a raised bed, but were concerned about the creosote. We lined ours with pond liner. We didn't tank out the raised bed (which is quite deep) as to completely cover the bottom would interfere with the drainage. Instead we overlapped it at the bottom and then put some stones on the bottom to aid drainage and hold it down. Then we filled it with topsoil. My other two raised beds are made with old decking and we lined them with pond liners as well. We now have lots of veggies growing very happily in them. Hope this helps and welcome to the vine.... I am new to all this and have found the people on here to be very friendly and really helpful. ChristineComment
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I looked everywhere to get some around me, and couldn't find any, anywhere. In the end I bought some floor boarding to build up the trough I was making - I then painted it with exterior shed/fench paint that isn't toxic, and is safe for use around plants. Next time, I think I'll use treated timber for decking, as it looks nice - it's just a shame it's pretty expensive..
Failing that, why not have a look for pallets at your local stores?Comment
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Chrismarks..... B&Q have had a good offer on decking recently. We actually used some old decking for one bed and bought new for the third.....it looks really good. I say we..... OH did all the work.....I just do the nice bit......the planting that is
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I think it was around £3.10 per length as opposed to £1.50 odd per length of floor board - I'll have to go back up and check now, as if there's an offer on I may as well just stock up on it, so I don't have to dig my garden up (just rather make these planters/troughs). Cheers for the headsup!
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thanks to everyone for their replys, very helpfullComment
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Could try old scaffolders planks,no creosote,just cement to worry about!Comment
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Raised beds
After much pondering I got a local timber merchant to cut some 100mm x 250mm and some 100mm x100mm timber to the correct lengths and had the tanalith pressure treated. Worked out at about £3 a metre in total I think. I made up the beds and they look great (and I've now got lots of veggies too....).
God luckComment
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thanks but i all ready have the sleepers in my garden so i think i will use them and line it with plastic, also the plan was drill doles in the wood so i drop in a netted frame to keep the nasties out...Comment
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"the plan was drill doles in the wood so i drop in a netted frame to keep the nasties out..."
I like the sound of that plan!!K's Garden blog the story of the creation of our gardenComment
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