A garden lacking wooden elements loses its shine in my opinion. Gazebos, pergolas, fences and even a terrace are most often made of wood.Although many gardens rely on glass, metal and stone, this natural raw material has been continuously popular for years.What kind of wood can be used and how to properly maintain it?
A harmonious duo: wood + stone
I believe that a combination of wood and stone gives the best effect. It is worth building, for example, a wooden fence, gazebos and pergolas, while the stone is used to create retaining walls on hills. Maintaining the right proportions will help to maintain harmony in the garden.
Larch, birch or pine?
One of the most common (and somewhat because of the attractive price) species of wood is pine. It is used in virtually all garden structures. The wood is light and easy to work with.Properly impregnated, it will be useful for at least a dozen or so years.The disadvantage is sometimes numerous knots and cracks appearing over time. Still, I think pine is the most useful in the garden.
I advise against using spruce wood. Admittedly, it has a beautiful yellow color, but also low durability.Similarly, I would not choose oak, which is difficult to process, cracks easily and needs to be oiled frequently.To build pergolas and gazebos, it is also worth considering larch wood, which is considered to be one of the hardest among the native species.
Larch wood is extremely difficult to process immediately after being cut, but if it lies long enough and dries up, it does not pose any major problems. In turn, benches and stumps for flower pots should be made of birch, which not only has an extremely attractive bark, but also produces wood that is quite uniform in color and is inexpensive.
Unfortunately, birch wood also has its drawbacks. It is low resistance to pests and fungi. Garden furniture is sometimes also made of beech.In turn
from exotic raw material, massaranduba, merbau, sapele and tatajuba wood are often used for terraces.The latter can be used to build bridges over a pond or pond. It tolerates contact with water very well.
How to conserve wood?
Preserving wood at home is very easy.
Pergolas, fences, gazebos
First, clean the wooden elements (especially the old ones), then apply the impregnation to their surface with a brush. It is important that the wood is dry - the preparation is best absorbed by a material with a moisture content of no more than 30%. For these garden elements, a coloring impregnation is most often used (you can also use a colorless one).Repeat the steps twice. It is important that the work is done thoroughly and that the impregnation is soaked deeply into the wood (usually a few millimeters).
Elements in the ground
Wood that will be buried under the ground can be preserved with e.g. abisol.
Stairs and terraces
They require more durable protection, so for their impregnation I recommend using oils that protect against cracking and drying out of the wood to a greater extent.When choosing an exotic type of wood, it is worth choosing a special oil assigned to it.There is a huge selection of wood preservation products on the market.
It is worth asking about them in gardening or construction stores. The oil, like the impregnation, is applied to the wood with a brush (or roller), and then the activity is repeated after a few hours (on the still wet material).
