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Removing rusted galvanized raised beds, what to replace with?

 
pioneer
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Location: Inland NW 2300' Zone4b frost pocket valley mouth river sand
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Our new home came with brand new galvanized steel raised beds. In the whirlwind of renovations and moving we figured we would run with it and the first year went fine. The second year they began showing rust, the third year they are all rusted on the inside, and the produce of those beds was really not great. It is hard to tell how not great it was because it was a really not great year in general, with all the wildfire smoke, but I'm inclined to dump all the soil in the woods, recycle the steel, and start over. What should I replace with?

I have access to a lot of woodchips. The paths are all in woodchips. I have tried BTE gardening and I'm doing something wrong, because there is no compost happening down there, just 12-18" of chips over mineral soil. We have lots of earthworms but they inhabit the beds and borders, and have not been transforming the chips. The oldest chip bed is almost 3yo. I grow plants in it by putting compost into the potting holes and pouring on gallons of compost tea and fish sauce. So basically, I would like to use something that isn't more chips.

I could try bed-shaped mini hugels, but the dirt would wash down the sides. There are zero rocks on the land, so a nice rock border is out. I could build a nice border with logs. We have tons of fir, cedar, alder, and pine that are about the right width to stack for a low border, but I worry about ants. This is probably what I'll end up doing, though. We have almost perfected our toad habitat and they do a great job with the ants and the slugs.

Any other ideas? There are going to be 8 un-beds with un-garden soil in them, about 3' by 8'.
 
pollinator
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Location: Bendigo , Australia
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I doubt bushfire smoke will have caused any residual harm to the soil in the beds.
Build up of heavy soot or ash settling from the air can temporarily alter soil chemistry.
from research "
What Happens When Galvanised Iron Corrodes?
• Zinc Coating Breakdown:
Galvanised steel or iron is coated in zinc to prevent rust.
As the metal ages and corrodes, small amounts of zinc can slowly break down and enter the soil.
Zinc is a natural plant micronutrient and is safe in small quantities.
• Rust (Iron Oxide):
Rust is simply iron oxide. Surface rust from the underlying steel does not leach into the soil in high enough concentrations to damage plants or toxicity levels.
• Soil pH Factor:
Acidic soil (with a low pH, typically below 5.5 to 6.0) can increase the leaching of trace elements like zinc or minor impurities such as lead (sometimes found in older galvanised products).
In standard garden soil (pH 6.5 to 7.0), leaching is minimal."
 
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pollinator
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Scaffold boards are worth a look, thick enough to last years without treatment and you can usually find them cheap secondhand. My concern with galvanised in beds has always been the zinc leaching anyway, so going untreated timber at least takes that worry off the table.
 
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