Do you enjoy seeing a colourful garden? Most people think of gardens as colourful and attractive parts of their home. However, what happens when your gardens are out of vegetables or flowers? A garden will most probably look bare, lifeless, and colourless.
Aside from plants, there are other ways to add colour to your garden. If you are planning to build a raised garden bed, you might have considered painting it.
You might be one of those people thinking, can I paint my raised garden beds? Well, the answer is yes. You can paint or stain your garden beds. However, you must be careful about the type of paint or stain that you are going to use, especially when growing edible crops.
can you paint a raised garden bed?
Some people prefer leaving the natural wood surface to age naturally. If you are one of those people who prefer painting your raised garden bed, you can also do it in any pattern or colour that you like.
The number one consideration that you must think of is the quality and type of paint you will be using especially when taking care of vegetable gardens. Since you are going to consume the crops, you should consider choosing the type of paint that does not have a lot of chemical preservatives and can repel water or moisture.
Just like the reason behind not using treated wood or lumber for your raised bed, you want less to no chemicals leeching into the soil and reaching your crops.
pros and cons of painting your raised garden bed
Painting a raised garden bed has its pros and cons. Just because you were able to add colour to your garden does not mean that it is an advantage for growing your crops. If not careful, you might affect the growth of the crops and later affect your health when you consume these.
pros
preserve the wood
Since the most common material used for raised beds this wood, painting does not only help beautify the word but also preserves it. The paint prevents moisture from getting into the wood and act as a barrier to preserve the wood and prevent it from rotting.
Some factors will affect the protection that the wood gets from being painted. These factors are the following:
- Sides of the wood that are painted
- Type of the paint used
- Number of paint coats done
paint acts as a decoration or decor colour
The main advantage of painting the beds is adding its visual appeal. This allows you to match the look of your garden to your house or the surrounding area. It can also encourage children the dry gardening as they can make some beds their own.
cons
Among the biggest concerns when painting raised beds is the potential of chemicals that would leach into the soil. This is among the concerns of gardeners who are growing raised vegetable gardens. However, it is not a big concern for gardeners growing flowers.
presence of toxic chemicals
When growing crops, you might think of possibly toxic chemicals that leached into the soil and to your plants. This is the main reason why you should be careful with that type of paint that you will use to protect the wood of your raised bed.
Before choosing to paint or stain your raised beds you should consider thinking if the potential disadvantages will outweigh the benefits.
minimizing the cons of painting your raised beds
When painting your raised beds, you want to minimize the risks of contaminating your plants. If you have kids, you can allow them to paint outside of raised garden beds. However, it is a different situation if they will try to paint the inside as well.
As much as possible, you want to minimize the risk of chemicals from the paints or stains from touching or leaching into the soil. This is only possible if the outside part of the bed is painted.
alternative options you can use for painting your raised beds
Aside from using be instead are toxic for your plants, there are other alternatives that you can use to make your garden beds colourful.
milk paint
It is becoming a popular option for both outdoor and indoor use. This might be new for you, but this type of paint has been around for thousands of years. It was even used for making cave paintings and painting certain objects found in the tomb of King Tut.
This option is a nontoxic alternative and is made from natural ingredients such as lime, milk protein, and natural pigment. These characteristics make this alternative a perfect option to apply on outdoor structures especially those that are surrounding edible crops.
What makes it popular is that it adds colour while leaving a matte and rustic look. When used, you will see the grain from the wood because of its semi-opaque quality.
Among its amazing characteristics is that it does not fade and can resist chipping and peeling. Most often, it is finished with a layer of hemp oil to give it added protection from elements.
modern exterior latex paint
This type of thing helps seal wood without exposing your plants or your soil to harmful chemicals. It is a safer option than old lead paints. There are now numerous brands that are VOC free or VOC eco friendly that you can choose from.
Before modern synthetic sealers were available, linseed oil was the most popular wood preservative for exterior applications. Raw linseed oil is more recommended because it is a more viable and eco-safe option instead of boiled linseed oil which contains toxic additives. However, the raw version would take weeks and even months to dry completely.
mineral oil
This is another traditional sealer that is petroleum-based and is considered food safe and used to season the wood used for making salad bowls or butcher blocks.
applying stains safely on your raised beds
There are safe ways on how you can apply paint or stains on your raised bed gardens. The following are things that you can do to apply stains or paint safely:
make sure the garden beds are empty
You do not want any plants to get in contact with stains or paint during application. If you have already planted in your raised beds, it is best that you put them out first, transfer them, or just apply the stain or paint on its exterior. You do not want your vegetables and other edibles to get in contact with this because these can make the vegetables unsafe to consume.
use a brush instead of a sprayer
As much as you want to finish the job faster, it is highly recommended that you use a brush instead of a sprayer. Though a sprayer allows you to cover all sides of the wood quickly, you may overspray on the soil or plants and kill your plants eventually.
If your plants get in contact with stain, it may leave brown spots on the fruit or the leaves. In case it leaches into the soil, it may affect the growth of the plant roots and affect the overall growth of the plants. Using a brush will give you more control. Just make sure to start with a light layer to avoid drips.
make sure the stain or paint is completely dry before we move back the plants in
Apply paint or stain under a warm sunny day so that the planters and raised beds will dry quickly. Avoid staining on a windy day to prevent excess stains from getting picked up and blown onto nearby plants.
As you build raised beds and prefer sticking to organic gardening, you should stay away from pressure treated lumber as a material for the bed. At the same time, make it a point to avoid paints or stains with chemical additives or are made from toxic chemicals to keep growing safe edible crops.
There are always safe alternatives that you can use instead of toxic paints in beautifying your garden. Painted raised garden beds are sure to add colour to your garden aside from the beautiful crops growing in it.
