Plastic Ling and Sealing Beds

[GreenGoddess]

Hey Everyone,

I have a few more questions about my new raised beds and my brain is on overload after skimming through the archives. LOL We are building the beds around a brick patio. A few inches of the bed(s) is going to rest on the patio and the remainder of the bed will extend into the yard.

I am going to use fir and seal the outside with stain and polyurethane. If I paint the top edge of the wood, like the 2 inch side of a 2x10, will too much of the chemicals leech into the beds? If I line the interior of the bed with plastic sheeting, is there any particular type I need to use that is non-toxic? I will probably have to use plastic of some sort so the dirt doesn't leak out onto the patio.

Any help is appreciated. TIA!

 

[patandchickens]

Nothing reasonable that you paint/seal your wood with is going to contaminate the soil; I'd paint all surfaces of the wood if you're going to paint any. It'll last longer.

Don't line the bottom of the bed with plastic unless it is truly massively unavoidable at all -- you will end up with a giant headache trying to keep things adequately watered without drowning their roots in the 'bathtub' that the liner creates. Landscape fabric would reduce soil washout while not creating *as* much of a swamp problem, you might consider going that way.

Plastic is not going to leach out meaningful amounts of anything into your soil, though, so that's not a worry.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[GreenGoddess]

Argh! I just realized I typed "ling" instead or "lining". That's what I get for being so excited to get out and start building....

Thank you, Pat! I think I may use some sort of lining on the front part that is on the patio and then just landscape fabric or nothing at all on the yard side. The planters are going to be pretty large. One is 12" deep, the other is 20" deep. Both are going to be 3' wide by about 14'-16' long. Hopefully that will help with them not getting water logged.

 

[momofdrew]

I painted my wood with boiled linseed oil it is made from flax seed so it is natural not too much chemical reaction to it and it protects the wood...