Creosote (the real thing!) for raised bed

Davesnave

elljay said:

There's no soil in them yet, that's for me to source.  Would normal weed suppressant fabric work or do I need something more substantial?

Thick black plastic for damp proof membrane from a builder's merchant would separate the wood and soil and you could use it double thickness. You won't need a whole roll so shop around. My merchant cuts the amount people want, but they're old fashioned!

twopenny

I wondered why they didn't use pressure treated timber. It seems the most obvious.

I sympathise with your plight. Every gardening site I read said don't put veg in, you can't eat it, it kills it.

You can get extra thick lining specially made then you've done the job once or heavy duty black bin liners could be used and stapled or tacked. Probably both so you don't need to do it again.

You could explain to them that it will kill the flowers, presumably they don't know that or they wouldn't have done it.Be as nice and concerned/anxious so that it doesn't offend them.

I guess the decision is how much they put on before you stopped them.

Do a search for something that might neutralise the creosote on wood/shed etc. You'll have to wade through the wood burner things which are dealing with a hard surface where it's going to sink into wood to some extent. But you can't be the first with this problem.

As for the stuff spilled hopefully you can see it or remove a small amount of soil from the area to put your  mind at rest.

DiggerUK

The smell of creosote is, I agree, unpleasant. When I used it years ago the smell stayed in my nose for a while and clothes needed double washing. But, as a child, extra pocket money for doing the fences was extra pocket money.

When we use treated wood today for fence posts and rails we put a coat or two of 'recycled sump oil' on. It's brilliant, we even do the fences and sheds with it, we add about 2% or 3% white spirit if it's a bit thick. And of course it's money saving expert free..._

Apodemus

Personally I wouldn't lose too much sleep over the creosote - it's not so long ago that gardeners used copious amounts of Jeyes Fluid (which is very similar in chemical composition to creosote), to sterilise soil before planting.  I still use a very weak solution of Jeyes as a winter wash on my apple trees.  By all means separate the soil in the beds from the wood before filling them if you wish, but fresh soil/compost in open-air beds, exposed to the downward wash of rain through the soil, shouldn't expose the plants to excessive concentrations of the chemicals in the creosote. 

WeAreGhosts

Apologies for jumping on a thread, but does anyone know if the creosote substitute smells similar to creosote? I ask because last year my neighbour was staining some railway sleepers that are on our boundary, and I was convinced he was using creosote as the smell was awful, but he denied it

Apodemus

I don't think a creosote substitute would smell like creosote, but I have never used one.  Personally I like the smell of creosote, brings back so many memories of happy days!  As for the railway sleepers, is it possible that whatever he was using had just liberated the smell of railway sleepers - which will have had a life-time of tar treatment before being pensioned off?

WeAreGhosts

Apodemus said:

I don't think a creosote substitute would smell like creosote, but I have never used one.  Personally I like the smell of creosote, brings back so many memories of happy days!  As for the railway sleepers, is it possible that whatever he was using had just liberated the smell of railway sleepers - which will have had a life-time of tar treatment before being pensioned off?

I don't think so, he did a gate at the same time and that stank to high heaven too. It was so strong I couldn't use half of my garden.

Davesnave

WeAreGhosts said:

Apologies for jumping on a thread, but does anyone know if the creosote substitute smells similar to creosote?

It might smell similar, but it's nowhere near as strong.When I'm doing the inside of chicken housing with it I don't feel any nasal irritation at all, but others' experiences might be different.

Either way, there isn't much you can do if someone uses real creosote on their own property.

WeAreGhosts

Davesnave said:

WeAreGhosts said:

Apologies for jumping on a thread, but does anyone know if the creosote substitute smells similar to creosote? 

Either way, there isn't much you can do if someone uses real creosote on their own property.

Oh, absolutely. I know. But I should be able to say something when it's used on the boundary and it's leaching into my garden.

Davesnave

WeAreGhosts said:

Davesnave said:

WeAreGhosts said:

Apologies for jumping on a thread, but does anyone know if the creosote substitute smells similar to creosote? 

Either way, there isn't much you can do if someone uses real creosote on their own property.

Oh, absolutely. I know. But I should be able to say something when it's used on the boundary and it's leaching into my garden.

Boundaries are always tricky, but if there is any sharing going on then you have a right to know what is being used.