DH wanted to fence off that section and was going to buy some cattle panels, and decided, heck he had some tires so he dreamed up the idea of using them. We had plenty of old tires lying about. Then Jamie said he had some we could have, so we have hauled 3 trailer loads from his place, last one today. Neighbors started stopping by to see what he was doing with all those tires and they brought us a couple of loads. After doing that section, he has done another section between the old garden space and the horse pasture. They seem to be doing the job and putting useless tires to use. He has brought 8 big tractor tires down to the shop, cut them out at the top and filled them with composted manure so I can plant in them. It's been tire mania the past few weeks here. Donna

Interesting question. I did some research recently and found that the people who say tires are safe equal the number of people who say they are NOT safe just about 50-50! I was researching planting potatoes in them. The one site said that the ground tires (now used to make mulch) weren't good because grinding up the tires allowed the bad stuff to leech out into the soil where whole tires have anything that's a potential problem sealed in. Not sure if that's true, but that's what I read! I know I've seen a lot of tire retaining walls in pics in various places...maybe you could contact a state office that deals with pollution or water and ask them. I'd like to hear what you find out!

yeah, it's in my favorites, too. I e-mailed the same person who is responsible for the study of the tires used in the gardens. To his knowledge, there hadn't been any danger and if there was a possibility of snakes wanting to make a home, there would be a few things to counteract it. If you choose to pile the tires for planting, then the inside could be lined to discourage any snakes trying to get inside. Check any and all tires before even beginning to use them. See, I wouldn't have had that concern because we only have little garden snakes around here. In eastern Washington, there are rattlesnakes but I'm on the west side of the state. It isn't the dry flat lands of the desert type of land. Anyway, check tires. Then choose how you plan to use them. The way I want to do is to use only the actual part of the rubber that touches the road. Everything else is cut away. It leaves strips of rubber to work with. The same idea used to make sandles. When the rubber is in these strips and laid out, they're stapled to pieces of wood at intervals, to make a continuous runner, to be set in place. The length, width and height are all a personal choice. Basically, instead of 2x4's running the length of the planting bed, it's flat rubber. One tire width or more high, to make the border around the planting area. That's how I have intentions of using them. I can't imaging a snake wanting to cozy up to that. I think if I had any snakes around like you do, I'd be gardening inside a warm sunny vault of some kind. No way would I be outside any where near that kind of critter. Hope you still try the tire frame beds.

You can just google it and come up with info: http://www.hsus.org/web-files/PDF/Brazil-Retreaded-Tyres-Submission-of-Non-Party-Humane-Society-International.pdf "Watkins, U.S. Pat. No. 2,105,800 discloses a flexible subirrigation device utilizing a scrap rubber tire that is buried horizontally in the ground surrounding the root portion of a plant. The tread portion forms the outer periphery and the side walls form the top and bottom walls, and the bead portions which fit the rim may be positioned close together or wide apart to form an annular slot facing toward the roots of the plant. The downward facing side wall is provided with a plurality of perforations and a funnel may be connected into an aperture in the upper facing side wall for introducing water into the tire casing. The tire casing may also be filled with a water absorbent or water retention material prior to its burial. The Watkins patent issued in 1938 and since that time much has been learned about buried tires. Most States now have regulations prohibiting burial of whole scrap tires in landfills because they tend to trap air and gases and rise to the surface. Also, studies have shown that buried tires can produce toxic chemicals that are leeched into the soil and groundwater. Watkins states that the cotton cords may rot, however, with modern day steel belted tires, the metallic elements may rust and also leech hazardous metallic solutions into the soil and groundwater. These hazardous chemicals and solutions are likely to be absorbed into the groundwater and root system of the plant. " http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9216257&dopt=Abstract "Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Cooperative Oxford Laboratory, MD 21654, USA. Tires have a deleterious effect on the environment. This review discusses the background of scrap tires discarded in the environment, including tire composition, adverse environmental effects, threats to public health and safety, and solid waste management. Despite the widespread use of scrap tires in environmental applications, both land-based and aquatic, data on the indicators of environmental degradation are extremely scarce. Indicators of environmental degradation include analysis of chemicals within the water and sediment, analysis of contaminants within organisms, and analysis of the biological effects of these compounds on plants, animals, microbes, and organelles."