Raised vegie garden beds made from fence palings

[Poppop]

[Poppop]

I made these two planter boxes for a Christmas present for my Sister. She has two potted plants sitting in them either side of her front door.They are made from treated pine fence palings and i also gave them a coat of linseed oil.

[umbertom]

I'd like to ask whether chemically treated palings are appropriate to use in planter boxes for edible plants?

[greygardener]

@umbertom

There's a lot of debate about the risk of contamination. A lot of people use builders plastic to line the inside of the beds as a precaution. 

You might find these articles interesting

https://www.growveg.com.au/guides/treating-wood-for-vegetable-gardens/

https://www.selfsufficientme.com/health/is-using-treated-wood-safe-for-growing-vegetables-fruit

https://laidbackgardener.blog/2017/06/25/is-treated-wood-safe-in-the-vegetable-garden/

http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/factsheets/vegie-garden-timber/9431242

Theres also debate on this forum

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/2651347

Are you building your own?

[umbertom]

I wasnt thinking of building one. Just interested in knowledge.

[KaraZorEl]

@umbertom - Hi there, I joined the forum to ask this very question. Two of my local bunnings didn't have any ACQ (safe) treated pine so my plans to build a planter for my passionfruit vine is on hold. 

@greygardener - Some useful links there. I'll have a read. Cheers!

[Jacekk]

@greygardener @KaraZorEl would a non-treated timber do for planters? Exterior sealed with regular timber varnish, interior with: https://www.bunnings.com.au/bondall-1l-inground-timber-protector_p0960508 ?

[Bundaboy]

My local Home Hardware sells hardwood fence palings (untreated) and they aren't that much more expensive than the treated pine - I used a fair amount of it in my rustic garden shed. The only issues are:

a) You have to carefully pick through the packs to pick reasonably defect free palings.

b) They are NOT kiln dried and so have a tendency to warp if you just leave them lying around - that should not be an issue in this case as they are all tied together.

Very nice looking planters Poppop BTW.

[sinez70]

What a great idea! I’m trying to obtain some pallets so I can make some planter boxes. I need to keep myself busy whilst isolating at home with this Covid 19. I bet your sister was grateful for her Christmas present 😎

[MitchellMc]

Hi @sinez70. Welcome to the Workshop community.

Just so you are aware, we provide free pallets at most of our Bunnings stores. If you are interested in obtaining some for projects, feel free to ask at your local store and I'm sure they would be more than happy to supply you with some.

If you need any assistance with getting the most out of the site, please let me know.

Mitchell