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Non toxic option to treat sleepers/ wood with?

Gardener EveGardener Eve Posts: 118
in Wildlife gardening
Hi all, hope you're well!

We've ordered untreated oak sleepers to create a slightly raised bed along the back of our garden to level out the slope we have & we'll be planting trees and bushes in this bed to give us screening, interest and plenty of options for wildlife. 

I'm unsure how long these sleepers are likely to last and as we garden organically,  I am wondering if theres a non toxic option to protect the wood with or whether to leave it un treated?

A few things that have come up from my research are: 
Leave it untreated
Linseed oil
Croma
Ecowood treatment.

The last 2 are stocked on various websites but with no further info on ingredients or how they work. 
The customer services on the sites have offered to try to find more info for me but perhaps people here have experience & knowledge on these or other options?

I've considered a plastic liner but have decided definitely against that as plastic also leeches toxins bad for people and wildlife and don't want to create micro plastic for the future.

Thanks in advance for your time and thoughts on this.  :)

Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    I think @obelixx uses linseed oil ... hopefully she'll see this and pop in ... 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    edited March 2021
    No @Dovefromabove   Linseed oil is sticky in my experience so attracts dust and muck. 

    I use either teak oil or blended olive oil (for cooking) rather than extra virgin to which I add the juice of half a lemon per litre and then shake well.  Apply with a brush and leave to soak in.

    In my last garden we used old, treated railway sleepers to make a retaining wall so we could have a level veggie plot and we lined the inside with black plastic because it stops chemicals leaching from the wood to the soil and water form the soil can't get to the wood and rot it prematurely.   It worked fine and had been in place 20 years by the time we moved.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • Allotment BoyAllotment Boy Posts: 6,774
    Oak has natural resins & tannins in so it will last for years.  That said any timber will rot over time. I think many eco wood treatment have an antifungal,/ mould /bacterial inhibitor called benzalkonium chloride. This seems to be becoming the default cleaning agent in nearly everything, patio cleaner, greenhouse disinfectant etc , it's even in antibacterial throat sweets albeit at a very different concentration!   It seems to work,  but I wonder for how long,  given it's widespread use. 
    AB Still learning

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    My mistake @Obelixx ... I knew you used an oil but misremembered which one. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    No worries @Dovefromabove.  It seemed the logical choice in our climes - well Belgium anyway and UK - being native and all but it's quite hard to use and, as I said, sticky.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
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