Pressure-treated wood OK for garden?

14 years ago

I'm going to put up lattice panels for a garden fence and the price difference between pressure-treated (cheaper) and cedar (costs lots!) is enormous. Any reason, such as poisoning, why I can't use the PT wood?

Carol

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Comments (4)

tree_oracle
14 years ago
You didn't specify what type of garden.

If it's a vegetable garden then the answer is not clear. Back when PT wood was treated with arsenic compounds studies have shown that the arsenic leached into the soil but it still wasn't taken up by all vegetables. Modern PT wood is treated with a copper based compound and it isn't clear from the studies that I've seen how much of the copper leaches into the soil and how it affects the vegetables and ultimately people. These compounds don't typically leach into the soil a long distance from the wood so if your fence is at least a couple of feet away from your crops then you should be OK. Cedar doesn't have these issues of course so a piece of mind may be worth the added expense.

If this is a flower garden, then there isn't anything to worry about. Build away.
carol6ma_7ari
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks, tree oracle. The fence section (north wall; the other 3 walls will be steel wire on steel stakes) will be tall posts and 4' high lattice panels, to grow climbing roses on. Then 4' south of this the beds for vegetableswill start; not raised beds, though. The land has a gentle slope eastward, so I'm hoping that will drain some of the copper etc., downhill parallel to the veggie beds, rather than toward them.

I could plant the beds nearest the PT fence with vegs. that are least affected. Do you know if there's any such list? (vegs. that absorb PT chemicals -- should make a good google search!)

Carol
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I agree with digdirt. It doesn't look like it but it still MIGHT be pressure treated, but it's doubtful that any poisonous chemicals are in high enough concentration to be of danger. Keep in mind, even an apple has arsenic in them! :) Here's my suggestion: take one of the boards and put a bottomless pot on it (like say an empty milk carton with the bottom cut out, or even a styrofoam cup.) Plant a few seeds in the pot of cucumber and beans. They will be your canary-in-the-coal-mine testers. Cukes and beans are very sensitive to chemicals, so if they croak shortly after sprouting they are probably being poisoned. If they live ...the wood is okay to use.
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It's advised to not use PT wood because there are safer alternatives. That said, the stuff isn't a deal breaker for your garden. Once built the biggest real danger is putting your hands all over the stuff while harvesting...contact stuff. There isn't much to leach into the fruits even in the most toxic of PT lumbers. Plants generally don't pass on much soil toxins because they have no use for their uptake and very little makes it to the actual fruits. Like the above poster said...if you bought your PT lumber recently there's an even larger chance that it's the safer stuff. A lot of the issues with old PT lumber involved people putting their hands all over the stuff or laying produce on it to rest. Even then, a good washing takes care of most all of that. It's the arsenic in the wood that was a huge issue with the last generation PT wood and how you could accumulate arsenic levels on skins just by rubbing your hands across it. A lot of the "panic" came from how much PT lumber is used in kid's playground equipment.
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Tom: I have no idea if you are right, or wromg, only that according to our local home center, the treated lumber that has been sold for several years now has no arsenic in it. But I use oil based semi-transparent stain on all treated timbers, so it's really not an issue with me and the new ones seem to stain the same as the old ones did. We have given up on cedar. It's too soft, rots faster and costs too much. A few coats of stain, and you can't tell the difference looking at it anyway. I've also never had a problem with plants in treated timber raised beds, as we always lined them with aluminum flashing to prevent soil from escaping. It may also have prevented leaching. Or, it could have been the sealer. I can't really say. But now with the copper, I had to find something else and finally settled on the extra heavy black plastic used for lining ponds. Actually, the best timbers on our place are the RR ties that surround the barn and line the paths to the pastures. Talk about forever! Some have lain out there for over 40 years and are still sound, but it takes two strong men and a gorilla to handle them.
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The old CCA PT wood was known to leach Arsenic especially as it got older and because of that and that children could get that Arsenic on their hands and potentially lick if off is why that CCA PT wood was banned some years back. You must make direct contact with the wood and any Arsenic that would be washed off the wood and into the soil will accumulate near those posts, it does not migrate far in the soil and plants usually do not uptake enough to make them hazardous to you.
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mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
14 years ago
If we are talking about the cheap, stapled lattice, roses will just tear it apart.
diggingthedirt
14 years ago
Cedar looks way better, PT doesn't ever look as good, either when new or after many years. I've had both, although we've only bought cedar for at least the last 20 years.

Personally, I wouldn't use PT, even around a flower garden, because next year I might decide to grow some tomatoes there.

And, why add something poisonous to your garden? Just cutting it to fit, if that needs to be done, adds "something bad" to your life. If cash were the problem I'd go for half cedar and half poultry wire, for this year.

It will be years before a full assessment of the effects of the chemicals used in the new PT wood is done. By then it will be in the soil of lots of gardens.

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Pressure-treated wood OK for garden?

Comments (4)

tree_oracle

carol6ma_7ari
Original Author

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Pressure-treated wood OK for garden?

Comments (4)

tree_oracle

carol6ma_7ariOriginal Author

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mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)

diggingthedirt

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carol6ma_7ari
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