I built my herb garden with crossties. It's about 9 x 20 feet, and 3 feet
high. Since I was worried about the creosote leaching into the soil, I
lined the inside of the structure with polethylene film. I also applied
some "weed stop" fabric to the bottom to keep mint and other persistent
pests out. I did this about 15 years ago, and the garden has been superb.
Since many of the herbs are perennials, I made sure the soil was pretty
good to start with; lots of topsoil and a couple of pickup loads of
mushroom compost (smelly for a few days, but the best stuff for growing).

Joe

wrote:

I was planning on making a boxed in area using railroad ties to grow
apple trees and garden berries. Also planed on building a fence using
railroad ties as posts and growing blackberries.

Someone on another group said nt to do that because of the pressure
treatment of railroad ties or cresote. Is this a problem? I think these
ties are old. I can get them for free from a local company that uses
them to stack wood flooring on.