Whether you intend to grow vegetables, flowers, or edible plants, it’s wise to avoid using some of the toxic materials that seep into the soil. These harmful contents can travel far beyond your garden and have a terrible impact on the environment. In this article, we will look at 5 materials that are best avoided when building raised beds for the garden or orchard.
Contents
Introduction
There is no doubt about the benefits of raised beds when it comes to farming, but the use of materials is one of the important things to consider before starting your own vegetable garden.
Flower beds are an excellent option for their simplicity and efficiency. Growing your favorite plants in a raised bed helps reduce weeds, prevent soil compaction, allow for good water drainage, and easy maintenance.
Therefore, building raised beds for growing vegetables or other plants is a new trend that many gardeners are favoring in recent years. It therefore seems appropriate to show you the materials that are good to avoid when building raised terraces for the garden or orchard.
1. Old tires
We all know that reusing old tires is a good way to recycle, but except in the garden.
Tires contain cadmium, lead and other harmful substances, they are not good when they seep into the ground, of course, it could affect your vegetables as well.
Most of the toxins they release over time take decades to break down.
If you want to fill them with rich, healthy soil to grow vegetables in, think carefully before using them.
2. Building Blocks
This very common building material contains arsenic, lead, mercury and other heavy metals. Over time, these seep into the soil and this affects plant health.
Therefore, it is best to avoid them altogether if you intend to use scrap materials for your vegetable beds and edible plants.
3. Pallet with MB stamp
There are many projects to upcycle wooden pallets, including garden beds, but watch out for ones that are stamped “MB”.
“MB” stands for Methyl Bromide, which is a broad-spectrum pesticide that is extremely harmful to human health.
MB emits gases into the atmosphere and directly damages the ozone layer. Therefore, the use of this type of wood with it is not recommended.
4. Railway sleepers
Railroad ties are treated with creosote, so this is another pesticide to avoid especially for growing vegetables that you will eat later.
It is made from tar created from coal, petroleum, and other fossil fuels. It is not only dangerous to human health, but also to plants, insects and small animals when it seeps into the ground.
5. Treated wood
Today, alkaline copper quaternary (ACQ) is the standard wood treatment. And pressure-treated wood contains large amounts of copper that can leach into the surrounding soil.
It may also be interesting to read: How to build raised beds to easily grow crops.
Copper is extremely toxic to plants, fish and aquatic life. Therefore, you should not use this material for your beds, especially for vegetables.
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