Pressure Treated Lumber Garden Box

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.

Pressure treated lumber garden box. Pressure treating wood saturates wood under pressure with a chemical preservative. I have been wanting to make some garden boxes for my apartment but i didn t know if i could use treated lumber for my boxes. Joe mabel wikimedia commons there is a long standing controversy in the field of organic gardening. I am concerned about using pressure treated wood around my veggies because of the arsenic.

I want to build some cold frames but am confused about what type of wood to use. Concerns have focused on the leaching of arsenic from pressure treated wood. Of course the primary concern with using pressure treated wood in raised bed gardens has been with the arsenic in cca chromated copper arsenate treated wood. Deb pearl november 1 2017 at 9 17 am.

Raised vegetable bed with treated wood. Lamiot wikimedia commons pressured treated. Chromated copper arsenate cca was the most controversial treatment and was banned for consumer use by the environmental protection agency in 2003. This publication from pennsylvania state university does a good job describing the risks of using both cca treated wood as well as acq treated wood.

But i fear attracting termites with untreated wood. Here s what i know. Over years the industry in cooperation with government recommendations. Pressure treated lumber has been a controversial topic for many years.

Can pressure treated wood be used as part of an organic vegetable garden. 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. This deep penetration of the preservatives is what keeps the pressure treated wood from rotting longer than lumber treated with a topical sealant. 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.

Wood that isn t pressure treated tends to rot fairly quickly in contact with the soil. Yes the new pressure treated wood is safe for use for raised garden frames. Wood that is pressure treated can last many years when in contact with concrete and dirt where other wood would begin to rot. He stated in a bulletin titled treated wood in raised bed gardening scientific evidence and data have shown that using pressure treated wood for raised bed or box gardening is safe to adults and children in terms of the plants grown and used in these containers he further explains all chemicals in consumer products have a toxicity.

Stephen in huntingdon valley pais the new pressure treated nature wood safe to use as a framing material for a raised bed vegetable garden.