Will Cypress Withstand Ground Contact?

[iclark]

Wanting to do some borders in the garden.  

Currently have the landscape timbers that sell for $3 ea at the BORG.  Not impressed with the longevity.  Knew that at the beginning, but they were cheap.  

Considered cross ties.  I think this would win long term, but the cost does add up.  And then there's the potential creseote leaching issue.  

Now I'm considering cypress.  There's a mill local to me that does a lot of it.  Thought I might get some of the off slabs.  Will they stand up to ground contact for 3-4 years?  

I'm only looking at going about 8" tall.

There have been several threads looking for a source of cypress. Where is that mill, please?

[K. L. McReynolds]

Rough construction lumber today comes from smaller trees grown much faster than those harvested 30+ years ago. That means the wood fibers(grain) are not as compact or dense. If you can get CCA treated lumber(still produced, but difficult to get), ground contact PT lumber should last longer than more easily found newer PT formulas.

[ianab]

Problem with mill slabs is they will be mostly sapwood, and that's classed as non-durable. The heartwood has "some" durability, but like KL suggests, most cypress now is from relatively young trees, and is less durable than older mature trees.

[Bill Wilson]

Black locust will last 50 years in the ground.  Nature's PT.  

John

When my FIL quit raising cows and removed the old pasture fence, he pulled all the black locust fence posts.  I don't know how long they were in the ground, but it had to be over 40 years, at the time.  They laid in a pile, only partially protected from the weather for another 12-15 years.  My BIL sold them all a year or two ago.  I have no idea what he got for them, but they were still good and solid.  They guy who bought them was happy to get them.

[DieselDennis]

There have been several threads looking for a source of cypress. Where is that mill, please?

It's this place  www.eheartwood.com

They make a killing selling birdhouses to yuppy tourists.  Then on the heavy end, they sell to the custom home builders.

[WilliamHodge]

I have used quite a bit of Cypress for exterior millwork. Relevant to this post is the scrap. I have used the scrap and poor quality wood for sheds, fire  wood stacking, gardening, etc.

The Cypress is fine for about five years, sap wood, ground contact. It doesn't last as long as pressure treated Southern Yellow Pine. The benefit to Cypress is that when it gets rotten, I can compost it. Pressure treated wood has to go into a dumpster.

I made a piece of a logging road into a long term compost pile. The ground was already disturbed, so it didn't take out forest floor. The pile has built up a community of stuff that lives on rotten wood. I throw some dirt, saw dust, moss, and rotten wood on it to keep it moist, and add minerals and fungus to the mix. Surrounding trees seek out the pile with extra roots to capture the nutrients. It's also the place where I dump wood eating ant nests when I dig them up in the yard.

[Gary G™]

Call me prejudiced but I find the best Cypress mills are in Florida and Louisiana.
We’ve got some terrific places locally.

[EdL]

Black Locust lasts long enough we don't need to worry about it in our lifetimes.....


Ed

[CStan]

The stuff you're likely to buy, from small trees with not much heartwood, will not stand up to ground contact very well.  You'll pay a lot of money for something not really fit for purpose.

[Snipe Hunter]

Keep in mind.. The cheap landscape timbers (Round w/ 2 flat sides) are not pressure treated. They are "Treated", meaning dipped and not rated for ground contact although that's what they used for. Their allure is that they're cheap.