What to use for the perimeter of a raised flowerbed?
I am in the process of building a flowerbed that is 12’10†x 5’10†x 12†deep. The hole is ready and now I have to figure out what I am going to use to form the perimeter. Railroad ties are the obvious answer but I have young children, plan to grow veggies and hear…
I am in the process of building a flowerbed that is 12’10†x 5’10†x 12†deep. The hole is ready and now I have to figure out what I am going to use to form the perimeter. Railroad ties are the obvious answer but I have young children, plan to grow veggies and hear that this treated lumber leaches toxic chemicals (?) So I am looking for alternative ideas. Something creative. I found a company in Greenpoint that sells solid recycled plastic railroad ties but they are $165 for one 6″ x 6″ x 12′ long piece (same size wood tie is $42 .. more in my price range). I am doing more research on how dangerous the treated wood tie really would be and looking for a place in Brooklyn to buy untreated railroad ties. Suggestions on other materials to use for the perimeter? I will also need to buy a cocktail of soil, 3 cubic yards, a mix of peat, top soil & compost but can’t seem to find anyone in Brooklyn who can do this.
Sorry, forgot to include my email:
jennifer@localofficelandscape.com
And a possible alternate for the ACQ is black locust wood, which is naturally rot-resistant. But not so easy to find.
ACQ is the right way to go. You’ll also want to line the planter — bottom and sides — with ‘landscape fabric’ sold in big rolls at Lowes/Home Depot. This will help keep the soil from migrating through the wood, and the wood treatments from leaching into the soil.
Getting that quantity of soil is not going to be an easy feat, however. A full-size pickup truck can hold around one cubic yard, a dump truck carries only 9 cubic yards. And 1 cu yd weighs around 1/2 a ton. In other words, buying a bunch of those little bags at the home improvement store is not going to cut it. If you have the means to transport it, the city gives away all the rich black soil you can carry at their annual compost fests (check nyc.gov). Otherwise your best bet would be to call a nursery or landscape supply co on Long Island and have it delivered. (You can email me for specific recommendations if you’d like).
I’d also recommend a layer of sand (1/2″ to 1″) at the bottom of your planter, and a little mixed in to your soil ‘cocktail’, to encourage drainage. This you can pick up at Lowe’s/HD, in the same aisle as the bags of concrete.
Good luck!
The pressure treated wood that’s sold now is no longer CCA (chromeated copper arsenic). Now it’s ACQ (Ammonia Copper Quaterly)…or something like that. no more arsenic. Buy the ACQ, and be done with it. Or bite the bullet, and buy the plastic.
Railroad ties are thick and take up a lot of ground area. Why not use concrete pavers? 2″ thick, lots of sizes, shapes and colors, available at any builder’s supply warehouse (i.e., Marly at the end of Nassau Ave. in Greenpoint).
Maybe you could line the planter with black plastic to keep anything from leaching into the soil. Just make sure you puch plenty of holes in the bottom of the plastic liner for drainage.