I want to build a gate. Maybe an entrance to a garden. Wood goes back to the earth. Which one takes the longest to do that naturally? What can you do to prolong this reaction? Weathering?

Thanks from the Carolina's

mo

mo,

Get some good heart cypress. That's what I would use.

Something that fascinates me is the superior durability of riven wood vs sawn wood. I saw this demonstrated by a photograph in a Roy Underhill book. They took a riven piece of red oak and a sawn piece (same section and length) and submerged one end in water and someone blew on the other end, like making bubbles in your chocolate milk. The sawn piece had air bubbles escaping all along its length. The riven piece only had bubbles coming out the end -- like a straw.

Goes to show that water/air has a harder time penetrating the cell walls than the places where a saw severs the grain.

Gabel

Thanks Gabel, I will take you up on your advice. I never knew of the difference in wood resilience in comparing how it is shaped.

Mo

Up north we don't got cypress but we got locust. Black and honey locust. I fould a split rail lying on the ground on the dark side of a barn I moved. It looked like it had been there about 100 years. I cut it in half and it was as sound as could be and rock hard. Roy Underhill is a God

Cedar is a common fence wood. In another post you will see my rant on the merits of mesquite.
If $$$ are not a big issue go mesquite. Projected life span out in the weather , no preservatives employed, in excess of 200 years.
nuff said.

American Chestnut is another good choice if you find it with out killing any growing trees. New growth rarely makes it beyond 3", but sound logs 6-12" can still be found.

I am in northern Minnesota. A timber that has been recommended to me recently as fairly rot resistant is Eastern Larch, called tamarack locally. I have also come across a canadian web site, name slips my mind, that claimed its furniture, made from the stuff, is quite weather resistant.
I am about to put up a small wood shed I cut from the stuff, and hope to see some proof in the pudding. It will check and twist on you -- Get that thing cut and together quick!
does anybody else have any experience with eastern tamarack as a weather worthy wood?

Only by reputation, I've heard the same but don't have experience with it. Another highly decay resistant species is Eastern Redcedar. Remember the sapwood of all species is not decay resistant.

Film forming finishes perform pretty poorly on large timber from my experience. Checking is inevitable, bulk water gets into the checks but is vapor cannot readily get back out through a largely intact film. The moisture content of the entire timber rises to the point where it can support decay fungi and the film becomes a compost bag. Breatheable water replellant finishes seem to work better. Repeated coats of them can cause a film.