Building a Raised Garden Bed

It’s that time of year again when DIYers and contractors will be flooding the aisles of their favorite lumber dealer to purchase treated wood for their next project. When those buyers come into your aisle, meeting with well-informed associates will give them the confidence to purchase their treated wood and take on the project build that will enhance their outdoor living.

According to a recent study, raised bed gardens are still among the most commonly built projects for residential use – behind only decks and fences.

Why raised bed gardens?

Do-it-yourselfer Andy Nash said about 10 years ago as a novice weekend warrior, he chose to use preserved wood to build his raised bed gardens. “I did some research, looked at some garden plans online, and decided that I would attempt to build a raised bed. It just took a few boards of Wolmanized® Outdoor® Wood (2x6s and 4x4s), screws, and a few tools that I have on hand.” Andy said he built two raised bed gardens in just a few hours. The good thing, he adds, is that the planter beds can be used year after year because they are built using Ground Contact preserved wood.

Besides being built from natural, long-lasting preserved wood, raised beds have additional advantages. “My raised beds drain well,” says Andy. “And, I can plant earlier in the season because the off-the-ground beds warm quickly. That leads to a longer, more fruitful harvest.”

Why use treated wood for raised bed gardens?

Wolmanized® Outdoor® Wood is protected against termites and fungal decay and is ideal for many residential applications. When preserved with Wolman® E copper azole to Ground Contact retention, wood is safe and economical for use in vegetable and flower raised bed gardens.

According to Jay Hilsenbeck, Residential Product Manager and Marketing Manager for Arxada, it’s not just a decision to choose treated wood for your project, but also to choose the wood that will work best for your application. “This decision rests on the severity of the exposure conditions of the wood during its service. Ground Contact preserved wood is treated to a higher retention level than Above Ground,” explains Jay. “That simply means there is more preservative in ground contact preserved wood to offer necessary protection for more demanding end uses like raised beds.”

Because of its longevity, reliability and natural beauty, Wolmanized® Outdoor® Wood has been used for decades on farms and in gardens. Laboratory studies indicate that there is no cause for concern from uptake of preservative ingredients into fruits or vegetables. Its active ingredients are copper, often used as a soil amendment, and azoles, used as fungicides that are approved for direct application on food crops.

Building tips for raised bed gardens:

• Hot-dipped galvanized fasteners (meeting ASTM A 153) and connectors (ASTM A 653 Class G185 sheet), or better, are recommended.

• Liberally coat all cut ends, holes, or other intrusions into the wood with suitable wood preservative product containing a minimum of 0.675% copper as oxine copper (copper-8 or copper-8-quinolinolate) or 1% copper as copper naphthenate.

• Orient embedded support columns so only treated ends are in ground contact.

• If there’s a concern about vegetation coming in contact with treated wood, a liner can be used but is not required.

Raised bed garden plan.

Click here to view and download a raised bed garden plan you can use or suggest to your customers.

Happy building and growing! And, happy harvesting!