Is pressure treated lumber safe for a garden.
Pressure treated wood for garden beds.
With a few precautions.
The safety of pressure treated lumber for raised bed gardens has been examined by several researchers.
Pressure treated lumber is used for fence posts garden beds decking playground equipment and many other structures that are either partially below ground or have significant exposure to the elements.
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.
Yes you can use pressure treated lumber for your raised garden beds homeowners ask if it is safe to use treated lumber for garden vegetable beds.
Can pressure treated wood be used as part of an organic vegetable garden.
Infusing the wood with these chemicals allowed it to keep its good condition for a number of years making it the ideal choice for landscaping playgrounds and it seemed garden edging.
Pressure treating wood saturates wood under pressure with a chemical preservative.
Image credit if you re like me you ve wished you could use reclaimed pressure treated lumber for a garden bed to grow food in.
Joe mabel wikimedia commons there is a long standing controversy in the field of organic gardening.
Here s what i know.
Yes the new pressure treated wood is safe for use for raised garden frames.
Wood that isn t pressure treated tends to rot fairly quickly in contact with the soil.
For those who choose not to use pressure treated lumber.
This deep penetration of the preservatives is what keeps the pressure treated wood from rotting longer than lumber treated with a topical sealant.
Over years the industry in cooperation with government recommendations.
Gardeners have used pressure treated wood for decades in raised beds and as posts but on december 31 2003 the environmental protection agency epa banned the sale of lumber treated with chromated copper arsenate cca for residential use.
Lamiot wikimedia commons pressured treated.
Up until 2003 the most common preservative used for pressure treated wood was chromated copper arsenate cca a compound using arsenic as its primary rot protectant.
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.
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.
Concerns have focused on the leaching of arsenic from pressure treated wood.
I feel acq is a good alternative to the older cca.
Wood that is pressure treated can last many years when in contact with concrete and dirt where other wood would begin to rot.
In the 20th century and into the 21st wood was treated by a chemical mix of arsenic chromium and copper.