Landscape Timber for flower bed

[Dilip Barman]

I want to build a flower bed about 8" high and went to Home Depot to
assess my options. A good bet seems to use landscape ties, which were
piled outside in the garden dept. However, some of them looked weathered
with some black splotches and one even had what looked like mold. The
label stapled to the side said something to the effect that while it was
okay to use outside (where else would you use it?), it wasn't treated
to some specific code tolerance for insects or mildew. Does anybody have
any insight into this? If I buy such ties, how many years can I expect them
to last? Would it be better to buy pressure-treated lumber? I was told that
the lumber wasn't meant to be in soil contact. Thanks for your comments
- please email direclty to me. If you have general suggestions about building
a flower bed, I'd love to hear them too. Thanks.

Dilip

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Dilip Barman, Dept. of Computer Science
University of North Carolina, CB 3175
Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
(919)962-1821, fax 962-1799