Raised bed, can are any natural woods dangerous

[Allison Maggio]

Hi all, I'm planning on building some raised beds this year and i had the idea to build them from some trees that fell on my property. I thought they were Juniper but they are identifying on a plant app that i have as red cedar. Are there any trees that would be dangerous for me to use to build a raised bed? I know you can't cook over certain kinds of wood logs because they can poison the food but i didn't know if this would apply to building with it as well. Any thoughts?

 

[majorcatfish]

cedar is good it will last a long time otherwise dont know of any natural wood that's harmful...

 

[dickiebird]

Cedar is great for raised beds.

THANX RICH

 

[Artichoke Lover]

Cedar is great wood for raised beds! I don’t know any that would be harmful to people but black walnut wood could stunt plants growth.

 

[AMKuska]

You may be thinking of Oleander, which is a very large shrub. It's extremely poisonous, and can cause problems when burned, or even used as a skewer to cook things on. Burning it is also very dangerous. It's an unmistakable shrub with lots of beautiful flowers.

A proper tree that is toxic is the Mexican Elder. It's poisonous through and through.

Most other trees are dangerous when burned due to the combination of water and gum for example, and not because the wood itself. You could take that green wood and build a raised garden bed with it, and it wouldn't poison your vegetables.