Question about raised beds made from sleepers

[Radian]

Planning on building a raised bed using 8 off 1.8m x 0.2m x 0.1m sleepers. Does it make sense to line the inside with heavy gauge plastic sheet? Seems wrong just to fill with compost but plastic against timber will make it sweat. 

[MikeGrahamT21]

28 minutes ago, Radian said:

Planning on building a raised bed using 8 off 1.8m x 0.2m x 0.1m sleepers. Does it make sense to line the inside with heavy gauge plastic sheet? Seems wrong just to fill with compost but plastic against timber will make it sweat. 

 

I lined my inital ones with DPM, but found it just sits with water and you end up getting soil down it that you can't get rid of. Needless to say the wood didn't last very long. I've re-done them, this time without plastic, only a year in so can't comment on longevity, but hoping it'll be much better, certainly didn't gain anything from using the DPM.

 

Make sure you double coat with a good fence paint on the side you won't see, and that should help more.

Edited March 25, 2022 by MikeGrahamT21

[SteamyTea]

I used so old roof slates to line the sides of my timber retaining wall, then just filled with dirt and planted away.

Two years in it is still fine.

 

Traditionally old railway sleepers were used, but the anti-rot treatment was the problem.

[JohnMo]

You need to use a geotex fabric, so water can flow through and it keeps soil away from the wood.

 

Something like this https://www.toolstation.com/heavy-duty-landscape-fabric/p62380?store=LJ&utm_source=googleshopping&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=googleshoppingfeed&mkwid=_dm&pcrid=560261087208&pkw=&pmt=&gclid=CjwKCAjwloCSBhAeEiwA3hVo_adwDwbVNE8xNkoiWkx6ky62xEYICLbShGHgpgoIgWhBrU8P9DNjDxoCI8oQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds