Hügelkultur Raised Beds

[gtaus]

I have over 3 DZ mature trees. I thought I could sell the trees for lumber. But since they are in a yard they don't want them for fear of nails trashing the saw blaces.

Why would trees in a yard have nails in them? Not sure I'm understanding you correctly on that point.

FWIW, I do a lot of pallet wood projects and I don't want to ruin an expensive saw blade on a hidden nail in the pallet wood. Well, also a potential injury risk. I bought a metal scanner from Harbor Freight and use that to scan my pallet wood lumber before I bring it close to my miter or table saw. The scanner can find hidden metal in the pallet wood that I cannot see, but I don't know if it would detect a nail buried deep in a tree.

I think I bought my metal scanner on sale for around $20.00, which was about the same price as metal scanners on Amazon at the time.

Maybe a person could sandwich a nail between boards and see how sensitive the metal scanner is. Continue to add boards to see how many inches inside the wood the scanner will still detect the nail.

 

[Molpet]

Really? Nobody wants your timber? Wow. I would NOT give it away! That's ridiculous.

Walnut does make good firewood, but the wood is very "stringy," and hubby stopped trying to split it until we got a wood splitter.

My cousin does have a splinter, they mostly heat the house with wood. Propane for backup furnace, hot water and stove

 

[Molpet]

Why would trees in a yard have nails in them? Not sure I'm understanding you correctly on that point.

FWIW, I do a lot of pallet wood projects and I don't want to ruin an expensive saw blade on a hidden nail in the pallet wood. Well, also a potential injury risk. I bought a metal scanner from Harbor Freight and use that to scan my pallet wood lumber before I bring it close to my miter or table saw. The scanner can find hidden metal in the pallet wood that I cannot see, but I don't know if it would detect a nail buried deep in a tree.

View attachment 3752338

I think I bought my metal scanner on sale for around $20.00, which was about the same price as metal scanners on Amazon at the time.

Maybe a person could sandwich a nail between boards and see how sensitive the metal scanner is. Continue to add boards to see how many inches inside the wood the scanner will still detect the nail.

Trees are handy to use for clothesline and living fence post. Birdhouses that would go on side of a post. Tree grows around the nail, after 50 years no idea anything is there.
I'll have to look into that wand, thanks

 

[gtaus]

Trees are handy to use for clothesline and living fence post. Birdhouses that would go on side of a post. Tree grows around the nail, after 50 years no idea anything is there.

I don't think I ever took a nail to a living tree. It's just something we never did. But I can see where people would use a tree as a living fence post or to hang up a birdhouse.

I'll have to look into that wand, thanks

Those are Chinese made metal scanners available lots of places with only different brand stickers put on them. Probably all made at the same factory. I'd just look for the cheapest one I could find either in a local store or on Amazon.

But my wand does work well for pallet wood lumber, and I use it all the time. I figured if it detects and warns me only once of a hidden nail in some wood that it will more than pay for itself compared to the cost of a new expensive saw blade for my machines.

I have only had the scanner for one year, but it already has detected some hidden metal in the lumber that I did not see with my eyes. So, it has already paid for itself a number of times over. If it broke tomorrow, I would start looking for a replacement metal scanner the same day. I do a lot of pallet wood and salvaged wood projects these days, so it was worth it to me.

The last 6 hügelkultur raised beds I built used salvaged or pallet wood. The wood was free. But if you ruin an expensive blade cutting used wood, then that lumber would really be expensive. I figure I have saved hundreds of dollars using reclaimed wood, so the small price of a metal scanner was in my budget.

 

[gtaus]

Raised Bed Kit on Sale at Menards

Just came across this raised bed kit at Menards in a special email. It is 4X4 feet and 10 inches high. I know some people are interested in these kits, so I though I would post it here. These special sales don't last long and the inventory gets sold out fast. However, with the SKU number, you can look for the same item which might go back on sale at a later date.

 

[gtaus]

I have been busy building pallet wood planters and raised beds this past week. I am trying to get a jump start on this spring and getting those built now. On the thread Show Me Your Pallet Projects we got into a short discussion about using liners for raised beds/planters and if that was a good idea.

I thought it was a good discussion but it probably fits even better here. Original question was posed by member @fuzzi which got me looking into the topic of using liners in raised beds. Here is the post...

*****

Wouldn't lining the inside trap moisture against the wood?

That's an interesting thought. I know that without lining, the wet soil will be directly in contact with the wood. If I put a barrier between the soil and the wood, that direct contact would be broken. But would you trap moisture against the wood? I don't know.

Here is a guy who sells raised bed liners, claiming that they preserve the wood longer...

But then I found this article on Should You Line A Raised Garden Bed? (4 Things You Need To Know) which states that a raised bed liner will cause the wood to rot faster - which answers your question affirmatively.

Maybe where you live has the greater effect on the benefits of using a raised bed liner, or not. Where I live in northern Minnesota, it's the opposite of hot and humid. Having said that, I have never lined any of my wooden raised beds and they are still rot free after 5+ years. Using untreated pallet wood, I can expect 3-5 years of rot free service according to the sources I have found. In my backyard, the oldest pallet wood raised beds are going on year 4 and have no signs of rot.

One of the advantages to building your own pallet wood raised beds is that you know how to repair it if/when a board rots out. Here is a picture of one of my pallet wood raised beds v2.0 up on some sawhorses in process of being built...

You can see how the pallet planks are on the inside of the 2X4 outer framing. The main advantage in that design is that the soil will be pushing outwards against the planks, into the stronger 2X4's, and I should never see any sidewall blowouts as many people have discovered if they put the planks on the outside of the 2X4 framing.

If a pallet plank rots out, I can simply remove that piece and put in a new one, or if not too badly rotted out, I could maybe just slip another pallet plank piece inside the original which would never show looking from the outside.

Frankly, these pallet wood raised beds v2.0 are holding up much better than I had hoped. My current plan is to use them until they fall apart and just replace the whole raised bed at that time. It costs me less than $2.00 to build each one of these raised beds and I can build one in less than an hour.

Getting back to your concern about lining the small planter with a chicken feed bag and would that just cause the wood to rot faster... I think I won't line the planters after looking into this issue. Thank you for asking that question. Again, these small planters take me less than half an hour to build and cost practically nothing out of pocket for me, so why put a liner in them when they might only cause the wood to rot faster? Probably not worth it.

*****

Just wondering if anyone following this thread uses liners in their planters or raised beds. Would love to hear your thoughts on that issue. Thanks.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I lined a couple but did not use solid plastic. I used the grey heavy duty weed barrier. It is porous so water still contacts the wood.
For me it was more about keeping soil from slowly running out where the boards meet each other. I used 2x6 boards.

We are a very dry climate here. My unlined beds are 10+ years old and finally needing replaced. The lined are just 4 years old and look like new (although turned grey).

I think climate and rainfall matter if using plastic.

 

[gtaus]

I lined a couple but did not use solid plastic. I used the grey heavy duty weed barrier. It is porous so water still contacts the wood.
For me it was more about keeping soil from slowly running out where the boards meet each other. I used 2x6 boards.

We are a very dry climate here. My unlined beds are 10+ years old and finally needing replaced. The lined are just 4 years old and look like new (although turned grey).

I think climate and rainfall matter if using plastic.

Thanks for the feedback. I agree that climate is a major factor in how well a plastic liner would work.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Thanks for the feedback. I agree that climate is a major factor in how well a plastic liner would work.

In theory a plastic liner on a raised bed that doesn't actually sit on the ground could work. In theory it would allow gravity to pull the water down and help keep the wood dry. That of course would mean smaller beds and more wood so isn't something I want to try.

 

[gtaus]

New video by James Prigioni on Hügelkultur Raised Garden Beds

Nice video for someone who is wondering what a huglekultur raised garden bed is, how to make one, what benefits you get from the logs and wood, how it saves you lots of money acting as fill, and how over time the wood will break down to feed your plants. Also, if you go to YouTube, he has some links for the metal raised beds he is showing in this video.