Product Description:

Our Green Incised Softwood Garden Sleeper is a heavy European softwood timber supplied in 2.4m lengths and pressure treated to Use Class 4 for permanent ground contact. It is used for raised beds and planters, retaining walls, garden steps and terracing, edging to paths and driveways, low walls and fences, and sandpits and play areas.

The UC4 classification is the detail that matters most here. Use Class 4 is the standard for timber in permanent contact with soil or fresh water, where decay pressure is at its highest, and it requires a deeper, more thorough preservative treatment than the UC3 grade used for timber kept above ground. Incising supports that: fine slits are cut into the surface before treatment, allowing preservative to penetrate further into the timber than it naturally would, since softwood heartwood resists absorption. The visible incision marks are a sign of the treatment depth rather than a defect.

At 195mm deep and 95mm thick, a single course gives a substantial edge or step riser, and beds and walls can be built up by stacking courses and fixing them together with long landscaping screws. Unlike reclaimed railway sleepers, which are treated with creosote and can leach tar in warm weather, green treated sleepers are clean to handle and better suited to gardens, seating areas, and anywhere children play. Fix with galvanised or stainless fixings and treat all cut ends with end grain preservative, as cutting exposes untreated timber at the core.

Specification: