Re: Raised beds

Hi Barb,

I agree with Ann B, in that you might consider adding more amendments 
to your soil. If you have more sand and humus, you might not need as 
much top soil. It usually doesn't take as much sand to help break up 
the clay as it does top soil to amend it. Also, you might consider 
adding gypsum to help. It does wonders to help break up the clay 
particles, and though it is more expensive than sand, you don't need 
as much. Clay is actually fairly rich in minerals normally and if it 
can be kept loose in some way, it can actually be beneficial for 
plants. I know how it can be compacting and dry with a hardpan crust 
but compost, sand and gypsum can  greatly help those adverse 
qualities.. (greensand can also help). 

Ann B. wrote:
>I have never had much trouble with plants being close to treated 
lumber.
>At least with railroad ties that were treated with creosote. 

I added this quote just as a reference. While creosote can actually 
be toxic to the plants, The CCA treated lumber will not really have 
any affect on the plants. However, my concern would be that a build 
up of Arsenic in the soil can have an affect on you and the soil life 
over the long term, especially since it sounds like you will be using 
alot of the treated lumber. Studies have shown that in playgrounds 
where equipment built with CCA lumber have had levels of arsenic in 
the soil around the playground equipment to be at such a level to 
beable to cause nausea and other adverse conditions in the children 
that play there frequently. Admittedly we are talking about smaller 
bodies here but arsenic can build up in the body over a long period 
of time. Maybe an alternative would be to buy large pine boards and 
coat with a water seal or maybe using the cedar and somehow butting 
the ends together firmly with extra support at the junctions. (Trying 
to brainstorm here.....my brain doesn't seem to storm as much these 
days though :-)  as I am not any kind of authority.... just a 
concerned gardener that has tried to read as much as I can. ) 

I know some of this is environmental but I wondered if it would fit. 
Hopefully this doesn't create a problem .

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Dale Neil
Zone 5, Rock Island, Ill
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