For special projects over the past several years we also have made raised garden beds from locally milled white oak, which is a long-lasting, economical, and more sustainable material. This year, we will explore offering white oak as an option to all customers. The challenge is that we have to order the oak in bulk as a custom-milled product. So, if you are interested in this option please let us know; if enough people indicate an interest, we can take deposits and place a large order.
Here are some details, and comparison to cedar:
- Price: Due to the spike in cedar prices last year, our basic cedar kit starts at $270. Depending on the number of orders for oak, we should be able to offer a basic kit for $230.
- Thickness: The cedar boards are 1″ thick and 5.5″ wide; the oak is 1.5″ thick and 6″ wide
- Weight: The oak kit will weigh more than twice as much as the cedar. This is good for lifetime, but a little more challenging for transporting and building.
- Appearance: The oak comes rough-cut, resulting in a more rustic, less precise look. You can see an example 14 white oak beds at the JW Middle School in Princeton where we led a community garden-raising. The wood also comes green; because it’s not fully cured, the kits should be assembled within a month or two of purchase because otherwise it could start to twist as it dries.
- Origin: Our cedar beds are made of Western red cedar and the oak is cut and milled in Pennsylvania.
- Longevity: Both cedar and white oak have natural rot-resistant qualities and both kits should last many years. We don’t have long-term data on the oak but expect that simply because it is so much more massive it will ultimately last longer than the cedar.
