I've got some grape vines that I need to re-build a badly designed trellis around. Im considering using some felled timber from my back yard. The advantage is that I could use much larger, cheaper posts than I could get from the store , as big as 8×8 or 10×10. The main disadvantage seems to be that it's not treated, and so ground contact is obviously detrimental. In general does this seem remotely possible? Should I treat the wood with some type of stain? It seems unlikely any stain would penetrate enough to provide real protection for ground contact, but I only have experience with simple combo stain/sealant mixes, which I tend to use for aesthetic medium-term protection.
Or do I even need to treat it? Would a 8×8 or 10×0 log last a good amount of time in the ground supporting grape vines without treatment?
FWIW – I know there are lots of other options for the trellis (mainly wire) but those options all have downsides as well so Im trying to specifically evaluate whether this option is possible, and how robust it would be.
Best Answer
If the timber is recently felled, it is still too wet for any treatment to have any positive effect. However, even without treatment these posts, because of their size, will give many good years of life as trellis supports.