"Holy basil" works it's things on humans because of the substances the plant makes. It doesn't reach out into the soil to uptake substances and turn them inert. If you're worried about creosote, keep your hands off the wood, paint the wood, or wear gardening gloves. That takes care of your greatest exposure risk by an extremely huge margin. Plant uptake is extremely minimal and it would have to be floating in the water/soil solution for uptake to begin with. You're way more likely to be exposed by direct contact (aka, touching the wood). Given that the wood is plastic covered anyway, it's not really worth worrying about.

Probably best planted in full sun and a top of a raised mound amended for fast drainage. It isn't likely to be happy with our winter rains and typical clay soils. You might find it equally enjoyable to discover some easier to grow California coastal sage scrub plants that might replace the Arizona scents, check out Cleveland Sage, Salvias clevelandii.

People should quit minimizing the Isleta Hill population of creosote as disjunct, outlying, etc. It's within its natural range, tho N part...see link. Marginalizing creosote from Abq ignores many square miles of urbanization and removal of so much natural. Including reports as recent as 1980. I'm glad to now live where such things are a non-issue, though El Paso is at the edge of other plants' ranges. Travel NE from here and creosote bushes are few, but loads of sand sage, broom daleas, black gramas, dropseeds, etc...familiar? Disjunct, out of range, etc for creosote? That's Santa Fe, Edgewood, Farmington, Amarillo. Disjunct for Abq = aspens, green ashes, potentillas, etc. Guess the location of the below photo? Here is a link that might be useful: Creosote Bush monographs This post was edited by quercus_abq on Sun, Feb 8, 15 at 20:11

In general, taller chimneys have stronger drafts. Stronger drafts help to reduce creosote formation. Many other factors are involved, however. Exterior chimneys are much more prone to creosote deposits than interior ones because they cool off much more rapidly. Insulated chimneys, with or without a metal liner, stay hotter longer so resist creosote formation better. Christopher_H is correct that using properly seasoned wood is the best way to keep creosote to a minimum. The only way, however, to tell whether wood is ready to burn is to use a moisture meter on a freshly exposed surface. A moisture content of 20% or less is ideal, but this will still sizzle. Even at 20% moisture there are two pounds of water to boil off in 10 pounds of wood. Smell is not at all reliable. Many of the products sold as creosote preventing are completely useless. None of them eliminate creosote. Instead, they change its form so it is dry and flaky and more easily removed than the dangerous glazed kind. The best way of avoiding creosote is to burn hot fires with seasoned wood. It is also important to have the chimney cleaned and inspected every year.