When we demolished an old deck as part of an entry makeover, we were left with a big pile of 2x6-foot pressure-treated lumber. Once flooring, the 12-foot-long boards were good candidates for a landfill. Instead, we filled them with land.
We fit a group of four propagation boxes into one 20-foot-square area next to a service path. (The fifth box is one on the opposite side).
Photo Credit: © Pennystone Gardens
With the site cleared and the lumber nearby, it was time to lay a bed of sand and begin building the boxes from our recycled deck materials.
Photo Credit: © Pennystone Gardens
A few swings of the hammer later, we had the box ends assembled.
Photo Credit: © Pennystone Gardens
We had all the boxes filled with new plants by the end of the next day – with this one used almost exclusively to propagate
foamflower.
Photo Credit: © Pennystone Gardens
Now, you may have heard reports that pressurized wood should not be used in food-crop beds, due to the leaching of chromated copper arsenate (CCA) into the soil. (And if you haven’t heard those reports, you know about them now.) Note that my recycled deck lumber is being used for propagating ornamental plants – not edibles – as well as for occasional short-term storage of a purchased plant (pot and all). If you plan to make a propagation (or raised) bed for food-producing plants, do not use pressurized wood. You would do better to go with redwood or cedar, just to be on the safe side. (Food-producing beds are also likely to be set up in more visible locations in the garden and become part of the landscape display, so you’d want nicer materials for that anyway.)
But in my case, one look at our old decking was all it took to launch a one-day project with big results. We decided the old floor would be great for building propagation or storage beds – basically giant flats back behind our shed. In addition to growing plants, the beds make terrific temporary housing for plants just in from a garden center but not yet in their final location, or for storing uprooted plants for when our flower beds are being serviced. The boxes are also great for young plants that momentarily have no other place to grow.
It didn’t take long for us to get a plan together and gather our materials. Most of the prep time was devoted to breaking off the old galvanized nails and organizing damaged pieces to recycle into shorter lengths.
Next, we cleared a 20-foot-square area of brush and weeds out back, roughly leveled it, and then covered it with several inches of coarse sand. We put down a layer of landscape fabric to help keep down weeds, followed by another couple inches of sand.
Now we had a stack of 20 full-length pieces and a pile of broken boards to work with. We cut longer sections of the damaged pieces into 36-inch lengths and trimmed the worst crumbs down to just 12 inches. We nailed those foot-long pieces to pairs of 3-footers, and in short order we had a stack of 10 ends for our five propagation boxes, as well as more than a dozen “dividers” to split them up.
One by one, we nailed the 12-foot pieces to those ends, then divided some into two sections and others into three. (The dividers not only added rigidity along the lengths of the hefty boxes, they allowed us to use different soil mixes for different plants practically side-by-side.)
When we were finished with the construction, we moved each box to its final location, allowing about 18 inches of space between them for walking. Then in went the land. We put in a layer of sand first and a variety of soil mixes to within an inch or so of the top. The finishing touch was a couple more inches of sand in the pathways to help with drainage and weed control.
At the end of the day, it was great to stand back and see that vast amount of gardening and plant-storage space! We were positive it would take us a long time to fill it all, but by the end of the next day, all five were stuffed! We used two boxes to help young plants get a good start, and two others for cultivating rapid spreaders for use as edges and groundcovers on a running basis. The fifth box is for tucking plants we bring home from the garden center – pots and all – until we figure out exactly where to use them. (They’re much easier to care for in “the ground” than if we just leave them out.)
And that big pile of junk destined for a landfill? Dramatically reduced to just a few scraps of broken lumber! Our old deck is literally bringing new life to our yard – now that’s a great way to reduce, reuse and recycle – and garden!
