How To Keep Cedar Posts From Rotting
Terry Branthwaite had a need for garden fence posts and also had lots of cedar trees going to waste. Cedar trees don’t get used as much as other wood for posts because the outside portion of the tree deteriorates faster than the red center. Branthwaite had an idea for keeping moisture away from posts.
“My idea is to surround each post with pea gravel so water that gets into the hole will drain away. The tricky part was figuring out a way to surround the pea gravel with landscape fabric so dirt wouldn’t filter in around the posts.”
He came up with the idea of putting a 4-ft. length of 10-in. dia. metal ducting around the bottom of each 6-in. sq. post as it’s put into the ground. He wraps landscape fabric around the metal duct and tapes it in place with masking tape. The cloth is wrapped under the bottom as well.
“The next step is to shovel a few inches of pea gravel in the hole and then to slip the duct over the bottom end of the post,” says Branthwaite. “As we drop the post into the hole, a bar clamp is used to keep the duct from riding up. I fill the ducting with pea gravel and then use a shovel to pack dirt around the outside of the ducting.
“I use a come-along to pull the ducting out of the ground. The come-along wraps around the top of the post over a contraption that I welded together from some tubing. The come-along pulls both sides of the duct up out of the ground, using hooks attached to 2 metal brackets that bolt onto the ducting.”
Once the ducting is out and the dirt is to the top of the hole, he removes the pea gravel down to about 3 in. below ground level, ties off the landscape fabric with zip ties, and then tops off with dirt to ground level.
“This method isn’t complicated but it’s a lot of work. I looked around for some way to preserve posts but couldn’t find anything suitable. I didn’t want to soak the posts in oil because the oil could leach out and contaminate the soil in my garden, and pressure treated posts cost too much. We did coat the bottom of the posts with a preservative and put roofing tar around the post at ground level.”
Branthwaite also built a separate “slug fence” along the bottom of the fence to keep slugs out of the garden. The slug fence is built from 2 by 6-in. metal “corner bead” that’s commonly used to install drywall. The corner bead is nailed to 2 by 2 boards laid edgewise on top of more 2 by 2’s, and extends about one inch out to the side.
“The slugs can crawl up the boards, but they can’t negotiate 180 degrees around the bottom edge of the corner bead,” says Branthwaite. “It’s a very effective and cheap solution. I bought a total of 160 ft. of corner bead and paid $33 for it.
“The boards set on a concrete pad that provides a flat surface with no gaps under the boards for slugs to crawl underneath. The concrete also keeps the boards off the ground so they won’t rot.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Terry Branthwaite, 5225 298th Ave. N.E., Carnation, Wash. 98014 (ph 425 880-4201; tlbranth@gmail.com).
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How To Keep Cedar Posts From Rotting FENCING Miscellaneous Terry Branthwaite had a need for garden fence posts and also had lots of cedar trees going to waste Cedar trees don’t get used as much as other wood for posts because the outside portion of the tree deteriorates faster than the red center Branthwaite had an idea for keeping moisture away from posts “My idea is to surround each post with pea gravel so water that gets into the hole will drain away The tricky part was figuring out a way to surround the pea gravel with landscape fabric so dirt wouldn’t filter in around the posts ” He came up with the idea of putting a 4-ft length of 10-in dia metal ducting around the bottom of each 6-in sq post as it’s put into the ground He wraps landscape fabric around the metal duct and tapes it in place with masking tape The cloth is wrapped under the bottom as well “The next step is to shovel a few inches of pea gravel in the hole and then to slip the duct over the bottom end of the post ” says Branthwaite “As we drop the post into the hole a bar clamp is used to keep the duct from riding up I fill the ducting with pea gravel and then use a shovel to pack dirt around the outside of the ducting “I use a come-along to pull the ducting out of the ground The come-along wraps around the top of the post over a contraption that I welded together from some tubing The come-along pulls both sides of the duct up out of the ground using hooks attached to 2 metal brackets that bolt onto the ducting ” Once the ducting is out and the dirt is to the top of the hole he removes the pea gravel down to about 3 in below ground level ties off the landscape fabric with zip ties and then tops off with dirt to ground level “This method isn’t complicated but it’s a lot of work I looked around for some way to preserve posts but couldn’t find anything suitable I didn’t want to soak the posts in oil because the oil could leach out and contaminate the soil in my garden and pressure treated posts cost too much We did coat the bottom of the posts with a preservative and put roofing tar around the post at ground level ” Branthwaite also built a separate “slug fence” along the bottom of the fence to keep slugs out of the garden The slug fence is built from 2 by 6-in metal “corner bead” that’s commonly used to install drywall The corner bead is nailed to 2 by 2 boards laid edgewise on top of more 2 by 2’s and extends about one inch out to the side “The slugs can crawl up the boards but they can’t negotiate 180 degrees around the bottom edge of the corner bead ” says Branthwaite “It’s a very effective and cheap solution I bought a total of 160 ft of corner bead and paid $33 for it “The boards set on a concrete pad that provides a flat surface with no gaps under the boards for slugs to crawl underneath The concrete also keeps the boards off the ground so they won’t rot ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Terry Branthwaite 5225 298th Ave N E Carnation Wash 98014 ph 425 880-4201; tlbranth@gmail com
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