Raised flower bed and borders - line with DPM?

Raised flower bed and borders - line with DPM?

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Zetec-S

Original Poster:

6,000 posts

95 months

Thursday 9th May
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Currently in the middle of a garden revamp, and ripping out some old raised beds I've found the sleepers are very rotten on the raised side. They've been in about 6 years and weren't given any additional treatment and had no lining inside. As part of the revamp we'll be putting in some replacement sleepers to form a couple of raised beds (about 8" x 4" x 2" high), plus a lower run to separate the ground level borders from the grass.

Would it be better to use some sort of plastic/damp proof membrane underneath and up the inside of the sleepers to try to prevent the damp soil getting in contact with the wood, to try and extend its life? Or is that going to just "sweat" anyway and make little difference? Obviously I wouldn't line the whole of the inside of the raised bed, so water could still drain down into the ground.

Just curious if anyone has any experience of doing this and whether it is worth the extra effort/expense?