Non pressure treated ideas for cold frame base on wet ground?

16 years ago

Winter and spring can be wet here, and there are no high spots to place the cold frame.

It is 30' long, metal pipe frame, and will need a wood foundation. I am going to create a "raised bed" in there to extend the length of a dry season. This means soil will be 1-1.5' high in there, touching the wooden frame base. The entire floor area will be soil for growing.

Being for veggies, I don't want PT wood. And... I have no clue what else would work. There is cedar available locally. I'm afraid it will still rot here. Not something I want to replace every 5-10 years, this is a permanent structure (I hope!)

And other ideas? Or maybe something I can place beneath the base? Bricks would be ideal (under the wood), but way too expensive (would sink in winter as well- they are loose not "floating" on the mud like 2x4"s would)

THANKS !

Comments (5)

birdwidow
16 years ago
Why be afraid of PT wood? It's only copper now and with a few coats of a penetrating oil stain/sealer, the chances of it leaching even some copper is slight.
dirtslinger2
Original Author
16 years ago
Around here the PT wood still has arsenic and will "till the tanks run out".
Fence posts are the same, the "safe" ones are still unavailable.
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chris_in_iowa
16 years ago
One idea is to get rid of the wet.

If you are going to put 18 inches of dirt in there to raise the beds you must have access to some heavy equipment that you can use to dig a trench and install a French Drain around your greenhouse.

""There is cedar available locally. I'm afraid it will still rot here.""

It may not rot as fast if you build the opposite of an oasis, an artificial dryer area. Get creative by using gutters at the bottom of your hoophouse leading to a sump, place your foundation wood on a gravel filled drain (with ties down a few feet into the ground below the drain every few feet).

You mention a lot of wet and a dry season, dig a big hole!

Here is a link that might be useful: French Drain (um sometimes this link re-directs to a septic tank)
dirtslinger2
Original Author
16 years ago
French drains need to drain somewhere lower, there isn't a lower spot (this is level bottom land). The only way to drain would be to have a pump on 24/7 which isn't about to happen. A raised bed is plenty to grow veggies here. Oh the "dry" season isn't actually dry- just not wet- water table maybe down to 3' deep.

I'm actually going to bring in the raised area material by hand. No backhoes available here.
hex2006
16 years ago
How about putting in some concrete piers/pads/pavers to support the timber a little off the ground?
Line the inside of the frame with poly to prevent water from wicking to the timber.

My raised bed uses a timber frame with treated timber legs and weed barrier fabric to support the weight of the compost.
The bottom of the legs (3x3 fence posts)are the only thing in contact with the ground, which in my case happens to be concrete.
Pavers would probably be ideal on soil to spread the weight.

Drainage..it rained for a month solid last year without any issues.

Non pressure treated ideas for cold frame base on wet ground?

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birdwidow

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Non pressure treated ideas for cold frame base on wet ground?

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birdwidow

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