Treated Lumber For Raised Garden
Homeowners ask if it is safe to use treated lumber for garden beds.
Treated lumber for raised garden. Certain woods such as cedar black locust redwood and cypress are naturally less prone to rot due to the oils in the wood. In 2003 the environmental protection agency epa banned the use of lumber with added chromate copper arsenate cca due to the copper and arsenic content. Plants normally don t absorb arsenic unless the soil has a phosphorus deficiency more info here. There are several different alternatives to using pressure treated lumber to build raised beds.
If you just found out that your raised garden bed was made with arsenic treated wood if rebuilding is not an option know that plants will not absorb arsenic when they have enough phosphorous. Yes you can use treated lumber for your raised vegetable garden beds. If you want to grow the healthiest best organic food possible it s probably not a good idea to use any kind of pressure treated lumber. While there is scientific consensus that it is safe to use for garden beds the information below explains what chemicals are used in viance ground contact treated wood for residential use and the results of numerous scientific studies.
Some have the same look and others are a different approach altogether. Arsenic copper and chromium levels found in the vegetables grown in raised beds made from pressure treated wood were the same as conventionally grown vegetables purchased from a grocery store.