Durable rather than treated timbers will be the subject of a field day in Bulls later this month.
The Middle Districts Farm Forestry Association is staging the one-day event on October 28 to highlight and promote the cultivation of trees that a much more eco-friendly.
A spokesman for the associaiton said naturally durable timbers had been getting increased attention in recent years as some of the problems with treated timbers were recognised. Those problems included tanalised wood which were traditionally treated with a mix of copper, chrome and arsenic (CCA).
It was this chemical cocktail of CCA-treated word that created problems. Burning the treated timber left very toxic ash and the volumes were excessive in landfills. And organic farming rules often forbid use of treated timber.
"Naturally durable timbers rot from the outside in rather than, potentially, from the inside out as treated timber can, meaning failure may be sudden and unexpected. And of course they can be burnt in any fireplace," the spokesman said.