Is like to make 3 X 3*1m raised beds, 300mm high to be used year on year.

What wood is good to use? Thinking treated decking that won’t leech into soil (is there such a thing?)
Or
Scaffold boards?

Help!

Scaffold boards would be fine. You can usually find used boards, so will save money there. Try gumtree or ebay near to you.

Untreated reclaimed tropical hardwood sleepers; massively more durable than oak.
Not exactly cheap…

Watching with interest,

I made three raised beds with scaffold boards which I treated with a few coats of supposedly ‘safe’ wood preservative. I only paid £5 each for 13′ boards – bargain, or so I thought but it proved to be a false economy. They lasted 2-3 years before rotting badly,  Looking to replace them this autumn., which will be a massive PITA involving moving tons of soil. I have access to some pukka old fashioned coal tar creosote which would probably make the scaffold boards last longer, but probably not wise from a leaching/soil contamination perspective.  Pressure treated timber lined with heavy duty polythene to limit chemical leaching?  Dunno tbh so keen to see what others suggest.

Oh, thought you meant for the kids in a shared bedroom.
Carry on 👍

i used 100mm x 100mm  fence posts. Nice and chunky but the price of them now is crazy.

kayak, my answer still stands; as for tar derived creosote for kids beds – maybe not…

as for tar derived creosote for kids beds – maybe not

Never did me any harm. It’s that kind of elf ‘n’ safety woke nonsense that’s sending the country to hell in a hand cart!😉😂

If you do go down the scaffold route, swifties on abbeydale road do used scaffold board @ £1 a foot (If I remember correctly)

I bought treated pine sleepers, they were cheaper and much easier to move than reclaimed sleepers. I used creocote to treat them but have stapled plastic sheeting on the inside edges so the soil doesn’t touch the wood. They still look brand new after two years.

bloke – does that explain your permanent orange-brown skin colour?

I’ve used 200x100mm untreated pine sleepers in the past – local timber merchant or eBay, whichever is cheapest. I lined the inside with a polythene membrane and stained them black to match the other woodwork in the garden.

bloke – does that explain your permanent orange-brown skin colour?

Now you come to mention it? 🤔 Maybe the perma whiff of tar too?

To line them, I used a load of those vinyl advertising banners you see zip-tied to railings. Your local council might regularly remove them because they rarely have planning permission. Worth an ask. Alternatively put on some hi-viz and liberate some.

bloke – as for the perma whiff of tar, think of it as the ‘mature’ man’s version of lynx…

Untreated reclaimed tropical hardwood sleepers; massively more durable than oak.

This or accoya

I wouldn’t use wood for raised beds again, even the beautiful untreated sleepers made out of some sort of red wood (underground?) rot and are lovely places for slugs eventually. I replaced mine with cheap, secondhand 3’x 2’ in brexit money, concrete slabs, set them in a bit of concrete, a bit of dexion on the joins with screws and plugs to keep them in line. Job done. It cost me a hernia though!
Any charity donation for that saddle yet? @bikerevivesheffield

I should also add that my sleepers are sitting on gravel, the hope being that any water will drain and they are less likely to rot from below

Untreated jarrah or ekki: come back in 50 years.

I used gravel boards which are rot free after 8 years. The pegs didn’t last that long though and were replaced with galvanised pegs and corner brackets.
Also used fence old posts that had rotted at the base. Cut 30cm off the bottom and they look good too.

3m x 3m? You might want to go 2@ 3m x 1.5m or you’ll be trampling your raised bed to reach the middle
You could go full Bob Flowerdew and use car tyres and an old freezer

timba

3m x 3m? You might want to go 2@ 3m x 1.5m or you’ll be trampling your raised bed to reach the middle

Wow he’s building one million 3m by 3m beds in his garden? 😉

Think that’s three 3m by 1m, no?

Think that’s three 3m by 1m, no?

3 X 3*1m…now you come to mention it 🙂
3@ 3m x 1m, definitely in sunken commercial freezer territory 🙂

Three 3*1m
🤣

@wheelsonfire1 not yet no as not had a chance to try it/ride it/fart

Been off for a bit with concussion 😭

Mine are made with the floor joists from the Co-Op in Dunblane when it was renovated.
#SkipDiver

I used timber from the crates that Indian patio slabs get delivered in. Seems a pretty decent hardwood. the runners are about 70mm square so pretty sturdy. The rest of the crate makes great firewood, although you might want to use this too, to save getting so many crates. My bed has been in for a years now without any signs of going anywhere. Regularly see the crates around so quite easy to source.

I thought myself to brick lay during covid lockdown, made a high (2′) raised planter. Wasn’t cheap or quick but looks nice and will outlast anything wood

Used decking myself, lined with damp proof course. Not particularly cheap but fine 3 years in.

Decking lined with plastic. We’ve two 2m x 1m beds that have been there 6 years. I just treat them with decking oil.

Treated softwood will rot quite quickly depending on conditions. We have used Oak “sleepers” for our garden, they will be good for 30-50 years and were £35 each.

Real reclaimed railway sleepers are rare and expensive now.

I should also add that my sleepers are sitting on gravel, the hope being that any water will drain

Yeah probably draun away from the plants that need it. Sounds like a terrible idea!

+1 for some kind of plastic liner and then just use treated wood.

I built one untreated for food and one with some treated offcuts, the treated one is still there, there’s no evidence of the untreated one after a few years!