Alternatively you could build the frame of your vegetable garden with pressure treated wood acq or cba then cover the inner wall with a sheet of plastic so that no copper from the wood ever touches the soil it contains.
Treated lumber for garden boxes.
Plants take up nutrients through their root system.
Gardeners have used pressure treated wood for decades in raised beds and as posts but on december 31 2003 the environmental protection agency epa banned the sale of lumber treated with chromated copper arsenate cca for residential use.
108 products in raised garden beds.
Stands window boxes raised garden beds.
The water they drink through their roots contains minerals and nutrients.
Many organic gardeners use this combination and feel fully comfortable with the result.
It may also include some of that arsenic if cca lumber is used.
Wood that is pressure treated can last many years when in contact with concrete and dirt where other wood would begin to rot.
Pressure treated lumber is an option.
Maintain soil ph in the near neutral range ph 6 7.
Why would it not be safe.
With a few precautions.
Yes you can use treated lumber for your raised vegetable garden beds.
Homeowners ask if it is safe to use treated lumber for garden beds.
The purpose for chemical pressure treatment is to protect wood from rot decay and wood ingesting insects.
Yes the new pressure treated wood is safe for use for raised garden frames.
Solubility of cr and cu is greatly reduced in neutral soils.
Eden 44 in w x 48 in l x 48 in h wood raised garden bed.
Up until 2003 the most common preservative used for pressure treated wood was chromated copper arsenate cca a compound using arsenic.
Image credit if you re like me you ve wished you could use reclaimed pressure treated lumber for a garden bed to grow food in.
Manage your garden soil to reduce plant availability as cr and cu.
When cca treated lumber touches the soil and water drenches the wood over time the compound breaks down and leaches or drips into the soil.
Cover cca treated wood used for raised garden beds or borders with heavy plastic to prevent contact with garden soil.