Re: Wood to be used in a community garden.

**Tamsin Salehian t*@sparecreative.com**

Hi all,
Great discussion. Some friends of mine use old bicycle wheels mounted at the
axel on top of posts and grow climbers over these which adds an interesting
structure to the garden. I grew plants up both metal and bamboo last year
and found that the bamboo was more successful - plants weren't as interested
in climbing up the metal - especially peas and I thought it may have
something to do with the metal getting hot as we have erratic summers with
some days over 100 degrees F and others down at 68F. Metal is a great long
term solution though - any thoughts? The twining plants were happier on
metal than plants which wanted to grab a hold.

I grew cucumbers both on vertical metal wire structures (at an angle) which
had been plastic coated (so didn't get hot/ I found them in a dump so I am
not sure what they were for but I think old clothes horses would do really
well) and on the ground over straw. The vertical plants produced about 3
times as many cucumbers and they had lovely fat even shapes, the ground ones
weren't as happy. 

Personally I like using a mixture of materials in my plot (using wood and
sending it to the compost heap as it rots, found metal structures - I think
I'll try and paint some bright colours next season so that there is some
colour before the plants grow up) but this may be because my garden is small
and I donšt need too many pieces. I'd love to hear about any other
interesting designs or uses for recycling materials to make garden
structures.
Tamsin 
Melbourne

On 23/4/03 6:08 AM, "Jim  Call" <jimcall@mail.casagarden.com> wrote:

> My suggestion in using wood is...
> 
> If its going to be "planted" in the ground such as posts for pole beans or
> such, I say use something else.  In other words, if its a garden fixture that
> is used over and over every year, use metal (T-posts). 

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