Making a garden should be fun right? Yes! Annnnd delicious, but we’ll talk about that another time. A lot of people tend to like raised garden beds for many reasons:
Easier to harvest
Keeps the soil loose, & less compacted
Provides great drainage
Looks aesthetically pleasing and organized
But what’s the best material to make your garden bed out of??
The possibilities are ENDLESS! If you browse Pinterest as much as I do, you’ll know what I mean. Don’t feel like you have to go broke buying cedar boards to make a bed that will last a long time (although they would be very pretty). We are going to talk about making wood beds last longer by burning them. Yup, take your beautiful new lumber, whatever wood you want, and light it on fire. (Keep reading, I’m not a crazy lady I swear!)
I’m talking about Shou Sugi Ban which is a traditional Japanese method of wood preservation. By charring the outside of the wood it becomes water-proof and bug resistant. I’m sorry if black is not your color, but this is by far one of the most fascinating wood treating techniques I had ever seen. Keeping my garden beds longer and being frugal, seemed to be one the best ideas ever.
If you can get your lumber milled locally-do that! Thanks to Wildland Timber, I can get my lumber milled to my own specifications for about the same cost it would’ve been had I bought it at Lowes. Winning!
I like to build beds that are 8’x4’ with boards 2” thick, 12” width and with 4”x4” corner anchor posts.
Ok, now on to the fun stuff.
Out of all the methods of burning wood, I decided to light a fire in my pit outside. Since my bed dimensions are large I was thinking it would be easier to just work the boards slowly over, and inside the fire, with the help of my lovely husband. You can totally use a propane torch for this process. Again, I was just trying to be a frugal fanny. To give you a general idea of what you’re looking for, you want to burn the wood so it looks like alligator skin, give it a good charr!
Once you are done burning the boards, let them cool (obviously, but just sayin…).
Then I took a wire brush and lightly brushed off the flakey char.
PLEASE wear a mask, DO NOT breathe that in!
You can also leave the char on there, but it makes the next step a little messy, either way. Once the boards are flake free we move on to the oil. Boiled Linseed oil is great to use, it’s a natural oil that will help seal the wood as well. I slapped a coat of that stuff on the boards and then waited until the next day to build the bed. (ugh > waiting, but it’s necessary)
Now, let me explain this picture so I don’t sound like an ass. On the inside of the bed I used cedar 4x4 pieces because I had some already. Should I have burned these too? Well ya! But guess who missed a step because I was in such a hurry to get my garlic planted??
This gal… This is real life, people.
I’m really enjoying this process of wood burning, not just in the garden but with my other woodworking creations as well. In my opinion, it makes sense that you want to get the most life out a bed and this Shou Sugi Ban process makes that happen. Happy gardening!
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