Hardwood for landscaping.

[KORNSTER]

Hi,

I am landscaping my back garden and I am looking for around 60 metres of hardwood timber to retain the soil and create a border between a slightly raised flower bed and the lawn I intend to lay.
I'd like to edge the lawn with short (200mm high) logs, burried at the same depth. I've done my calcs and I think I need 60m of timber.
I want hardwood to ensure it lasts a while.
Does anyone know where I can buy lengths of hardwood, uncut and around 100-200mm diameter?

 

[NSMaple1]

Using hardwood won't ensure a long life, I don't think. Hardwood here lying on the ground can rot almost as fast as softwood. Might last a little longer, but not a lot.

Around here people usually use pressure treated landscape ties. They're around 4"x4" or thereabouts, maybe 7-8' long. Or used railroad ties - if they can be found.

You likely won't get much UK based input here. Any sawmills around there? People with bandsaw mills? Or chainsaw mills? People selling firewood by long or log lengths?

 

[rarefish383]

About the only hard wood that will hold up in the ground is Locust. Our Black Locust will last in the ground, as fence posts, for 40 or more years. Settlers took them West to the prairie states for future use as fence posts.

 

[stumpy75]

About the only hard wood that will hold up in the ground is Locust. Our Black Locust will last in the ground, as fence posts, for 40 or more years. Settlers took them West to the prairie states for future use as fence posts.

Either that or Osage Orange. Also used for the same reason, and for timbers of the canals in my area.

 

[rarefish383]

Either that or Osage Orange. Also used for the same reason, and for timbers of the canals in my area.

Yep forgot about Osage Orange. We used to have lots of them bordering farmland. Now all the farms have houses growing on them. The last Osage I saw was at St Johns University in Annapolis, in 1999 when I took the tree ID part of the MD Tree Expert Exam.

 

[sb47]

Hard wood rots faster then soft wood. Your gonna have to use rock, concrete or if you use wood it will have to be treated or it wont last long at all.
If your building a retaining wall, you want it to last, so your not redoing it in a few years.

 

[avason]

I’ve had great luck with this stuff. It has plastic pins that you place in after you offset each piece about 3/4 inch. Sort of expensive but will last a life time. I know I didn’t answer your question on wood but have to agree with the others. Good luck!

 

[avason]

Here are some before pics to give you an idea of how high I went

 

[svk]

Oak lasts a long time in/on the ground. Black cherry is pretty good too. Other species, not so much.

 

[Cody]

Oak lasts a long time in/on the ground. Black cherry is pretty good too. Other species, not so much.

Agreed, the sapwood will deteriorate quickly but the heartwood lasts a long dang time. I'm not sure how wet it stays where the OP lives but if it's not buried too deep, and isn't constantly saturated in water, it'll last quite some time.

 

[sb47]

Agreed, the sapwood will deteriorate quickly but the heartwood lasts a long dang time. I'm not sure how wet it stays where the OP lives but if it's not buried too deep, and isn't constantly saturated in water, it'll last quite some time.

Down here oak will rot out as fast as you can build with it.

 

[Cody]

Down here oak will rot out as fast as you can build with it.

Isn't it dry in Texas though?

We've had oak logs sit on the ground, on the edge of the woods where they see no sun, not much breeze and stay wet all year, and they've sat there for over a decade with minimal rot. Matter of fact here a couple years ago I grabbed two of them thinking they'd be ready to burn once split. One log was still pretty juicy, the other was probably 20-25% moisture.

 

[sb47]

Isn't it dry in Texas though?

We've had oak logs sit on the ground, on the edge of the woods where they see no sun, not much breeze and stay wet all year, and they've sat there for over a decade with minimal rot. Matter of fact here a couple years ago I grabbed two of them thinking they'd be ready to burn once split. One log was still pretty juicy, the other was probably 20-25% moisture.

West Texas is brown and dry, East Texas is green and much wetter. I can stack wood on some oak 4x4's and they will only last a year, if that. Pine actually last longer then oak when exposed to the ground.