Raised Vegetable Garden - Railway Sleepers

[timsoles]

I spent most of last weekend building a substantial raised vegetable garden from old reclaimed railway sleepers.

I am very pleased with the result and it is now fully planted out with a good assortment of vegetable plugs from the garden centre, and some newly sown seeds.

However, a friend has suggested that it is not a good idea to use these old railway sleepers for a vegetable garden because of their creosote content.

Has anyone else done this and lived to tell the tale?

Cheers,

Tim

[Cider Boys]

Hello Tim

We don’t seem able to do anything in this once great country before some environmentalist tells us we are destroying the planet or such other nonsense.

I’m a creosote devotee and still use the good natural organic stuff by the gallon. However there are concerns and I am sure some enlightened members will point them out to me. Creosote is nasty stuff so you take precautions when using it for example wear gloves and a face mask or even goggles if desired but railway sleepers will have been treated by a process such as the Lowry similar to the Ruping process used for Telegraph/Electricity Poles and can leach out the mixture of tar and creosote especially in hot weather when newly treated. I would expect your sleepers are old and little will sweat out if any but if you are concerned you can line the inside of the sleepers where they come in contact with the soil with sheeting material. Years ago I would not have thought that any problems could arise but may be I’m wrong. Creosote will of course kill plants it comes in contact with but I would not think it posed a harm to eat from the beds otherwise I suppose I'd better tell BT to take their poles out of the fields near me! The grass seems to grow perfectly well around the poles and the cows eat it ok. In my opinion you are all ok with the sleepers for raised beds.

What do other members think?

All the best

Barney

[Marken]

Health and Safety rules prevent reclaimed sleepers being used in schools etc as creosote is carcinogenic. However, until relatively recently the advice given was that these sleepers are OK to use in raised beds as the creosote would be weathered.
I think the authorities are being very cautious because our "compensation culture" could leave them open to being sued in years to come.
If you are worried, you could line the inside of the raised bed before filling with soil (a little late for you I know).

[peter]

Just go to http://www.railwaysleeper.com/railway%2 ... tments.htm

[FelixLeiter]

The creosote stays pretty well were it's put, so doesn't go anywhere to cause harm. Tar, though, gets everywhere, especially on your clothes. That might not matter when you're out in your gardening duds, but if you have a visitor come and plonk their backside down on a sleeper in the hot sun in their best linen trousers, that tar's never going to come out. I've seen it happen.

There are other, hidden, concerns with railway sleepers, in the form of various beastly leakages onto the sleepers from decades of locomotives: diesel, used oil — all sorts of gunk, much of it containing heavy metals. An old friend had a vegetable garden for years built up with sleepers, above a seasonal-waterlogged field. They gave an early start in the spring, but dried out something calamitously in the summer. The horsetail came right up through them, too, which is what he was hoping he could smother.

[timsoles]

Many thanks for your helpful comments and practical advice.

It's here to stay for the time being, but if I have anything adverse to report in the future, I'll let you know.

A photo follows. The long railway sleepers are 2.6 metres (8ft 6in) so the whole thing is a very decent size. End on end the sleepers are 50cm (20 inches) high so no bending over to manage the vegetables. My daughter commented that it looks like a grave !

We have planted broad beens, cabbage, calabrese and onion sets. Also planted lettuce, parsnip and carrot seeds. Delighted to report that the lettuce seeds planted 6 days ago, have just made an appearance.

Thanks again,

Tim

[retropants]

That looks absolutely delightful Tim!

[Elle's Garden]

First can I start by saying how glad I am that I have found this forum, with so many friendly, knowledgeable people on it. I have answered most of my questions in the last few days just browsing/searching around!

This summer has been my first real foray into veg growing, mainly in large containers and seems to be reasonably successful, more by luck than judgement I think, and I have read with interest tips for increasing yields.

My next plan, having really enjoyed this growing season, is to install a raised bed of a reasonable size in the garden using reclaimed sleepers - which I will probably line having read about that!

My questions is, are there any implications of using the water retaining crystals in a raised bed? I noted the comments about raised beds drying out, and I have used crystals in flower baskets but I didn't put any into my veg tubs as I was not sure about using them around food stuff. What about long term with them getting into the general earth/compost bin and ground? Or do the crystals just degrade away over time?

Many thanks,

[Cider Boys]

Hello Elle

Welcome to the forum, I can not help you with your question regarding crystals but I'm sure other more Knowlegible members can.

May I suggest that you re-post the question as a new topic then I hope that you will receive some answers.

All the best

Barney

[richard p]

i wouoldnt use the crystals , i would think it would be better to incorporate pleanty of compost which not only helps to retain moisture but provides plant nutrients as well.

[Greenman]

I would agree with Richard - use plenty of compost to retain water and provide food for the plants. Crystals may be OK for fancy hanging baskets - which do dry out very quickly- but, to my mind are quite the wrong way to approach vegetable growing.

[Elle's Garden]

Thank you Barney, Richard and Greenman. I have to say your views reflect my gut feelings, so I will go with those and head for the compost heap when the border gets built eventually! Hopefully that will happen soon, because spurred on by all the comments and tips on here and my first issue of KG received this week I have now stocked up on half price seeds at the garden centre and will need to get sowing in the next couple of months!