Used railroad ties to create raised garden/what to do now?
bellbound
11 years ago
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digdirt2
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
100 year old railroad ties - safe?
Comments (4)loveapplefarm: Just as a point of fact, NO chemically treated wood is allowed in the production of organic or certified organic products. When your property/farm is inspected for certification, believe me, it's one of the FIRST things they look for. Thankfully, when we buy certified organic produce, we KNOW it was not grown in a bed surrounded by railroad ties or other chemically-treated wood. What is your motivation for wanting to use such material--because it's free, or cheap? If you think it through, even free material which has been injected with a known carcinogen, could be hazardhous to your (and your family's) health, and really not worth the risk. Organics is based on working with natural products. I, personally, wouldn't want that stuff anywhere on my property, whether it involved food production, or not. I have a friend who grows Kiwi Fruit in Southern California, and (because he works for the power company and gets them free) uses pieces of telephone poles for the poles in his trellis system. As much as I like Kiwi Fruit, I have to pass on the bushel of them he tries to give me each year....See MoreRailroad ties
Comments (22)These are pretty old posts but I hope some people will benefit from this info Between 1990 and 1995 I literally handled over 1,000 RR ties while working for a landscaper. We used over 700 just for one project. I wore gloves but still got a light rash inside my forearms from time to time. It completely went away in a couple of days. I guess we had used them so much that it didn't even occur to me that using them to border my vegetable garden in 1997 could be a bad idea. But after about 10 years had gone by, I was just casually discussing RR ties and creosote and I realized what I had done. So I began researching and investigating the problems of using RR ties. Grass, weeds, and ant hills have grown right up next to them from the beginning. A momma Gopher Turtle made her home under one of the beds with the entry way right next to a tie. That hole has been such a nuisance . I filled it in many times but finally gave up. She would have the hole opened back up by the next day. She wasn't causing any problems as long as I didn't accidently step in the hole. And we really enjoy watching her and her babies crawling around the yard.Nearly every source told me that since they were old used ties to begin with, and I had already used them for 10 years myself, there would be nothing left to leach. So I left them there. My family has eaten a lot of delicious vegetables from that garden over the years. I haven't used any RR ties or utility poles since. But that's not to say I will never use them again. Just not anywhere near something I'm going to eat. I feel like I am already the test dummy for creosote. I'm not going to push it any further. I hope this is some help to people that are concerned. I'll gladly answer any questions that I can....See MoreSo what are you doing in your gardens right now?
Comments (34)So far we've applied a pre-emergent to the new (last year) zoysia and done some spot weeding in the beds. All the plantings we had put in as part of a complete front and side yard re-landscaping survived the Winter well and are or have been blooming (see my posting in Georgia Gardening forum for a pix of our "Weeping Cherry's First Spring"). The bonsai will need to wait to go back out to make sure the last frost has passed, and I'm still carrying the new composter around in the back of the truck, but will at least pick a spot for it soon. The backyard, heavily treed, shady, and with a good crop of English Ivy (at least it's down from most of the trees) will be the focus of this year's efforts. We plan on erecting a fence along the back and one side (our neighbor has fenced in the other side), removing much of the ivy, creating pathways, planting some shade tolerant trees and shrubs,and leveling the one area that does get pretty good sun. Also on the agenda is moving our garden work table from inside the storage area under the sunroom to a covered patio area that is next to the area that will be leveled. Finally, we'll be looking at what to plant in a sloped raised bed area on the side of the house that was formed when we had the grade leveled and a retaining wall built along the side lot line. Our neighbor subsequently partially landscaped this area and we are cooperating on completing it. All this would probably make more sense were I to post pictures. I'll do so as we focus on the various "projects" that I've enumerated. Best Wishes--Carl...See MoreRailroad Ties
Comments (5)Creosote is not especially damaging to plants in this context. It is not a systemic herbicide and tiny quantities leaching from the ties will not be damaging. Liquid creosote will burn foliage on contact. You should avoid prolonged and repeated contact with human skin, so think about whether people would be sitting on the ties....See MoreRpR_
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