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I'm going to build my bride a potting bench for her plants--want it to look good & last---it will be subject to sun, water (will have a water faucet) & dirt---red wood & cedar are expensive & i really don't want to use treated pine---i have thought about Ipe' any suggestions on what to use and how to treat would be appreciated---

I think you have two real choices Redwood or Cedar. A third choice may be teak but it requires a lot of up keep.

Redwood or Cedar can be left to age without any finish or they can be finished with an oil. Both are rot resistant and resist bugs that love to eat wet wood.

If you don't mind having to refinish the wood all the time you could use practically any wood. But know this to keep it for rotting or decay you will have to apply protective finish fairly regularily.

My recomendation is build it from some real pretty Redwood or cedar put some Thompson Water Seal/Lock on it and make your bride proud.

I think I have to agree with Ed on this. I have done some outdoor projects using cedar with very good results. I used Thompson's water seal to somewhat protect it but it still ages to a pleasing grey.

It reminds me of when I was young and my dad bought his farm. We cut and split cedar fence posts and many of them are still standing more than 20 years later.

jonesuh wrote:red wood & cedar are expensive & i really don't want to use treated pine---i have thought about Ipe' any suggestions on what to use and how to treat would be appreciated---

USDA handbook is a great reference for this sort of thing. the full book is available on-line as a pdf. I exerted part of a table for you below.

you might want to check craigslist under materials and find someone selling rough lumber in your area. even if you have to pay someone to get it to S3S for you, you can still save a lot of money versus the big box stores. around here, rough cedar is competitive in price with pine from the big boxes.

I would compare what the local sawyers in your area are offering versus the chart below. then ask back here about peoples' experience with specific species of interest.

do note that the table is specifically for heartwood and not sapwood. I do not know how much difference that will make in the resistance, but it will certainly affect the price if you go for quarter-sawn heartwood.

here is the exert from:
Wood Handbook
USDA Forest Service
General Technical Report FPL-GTR-113

Table 3-10 (partial) - average heartwood decay resistance - domestic
Resistant or very resistant
Baldcypress, old growth
Catalpa
Cedar, Atlantic white
Cedar, Eastern redcedar
Cedar, Incense
Cedar, Northern white
Cedar, Port-Orford
Cedar, Western redcedar
Cedar, Yellow
Cherry, black
Chestnut
Cypress, Arizona
Junipers
Locust, Black (a)
Honeylocust
Mesquite
Mulberry, red (a)
Oaks, white (b)
Osage orange (a)
Redwood, old growth
Sassafras
Walnut, black
Yew, Pacific (a)
(a) Exceptionally high decay resistance.
(b) More than one species included, some of which may vary in resistance from that indicated.

Do not use pressure treated lumber unless you have some type of barrier between the wood and the soil. Many plants hate the chemicals. If you use Redwood ... only the red colored wood will give you bug protection.

jonesuh wrote:I'm going to build my bride a potting bench for her plants--want it to look good & last---it will be subject to sun, water (will have a water faucet) & dirt---red wood & cedar are expensive & i really don't want to use treated pine---i have thought about Ipe' any suggestions on what to use and how to treat would be appreciated---

If there is a dirt / wood interface, lining with a moisture barrier may be a good idea.

jonesuh wrote:I'm going to build my bride a potting bench for her plants--want it to look good & last---it will be subject to sun, water (will have a water faucet) & dirt---red wood & cedar are expensive & i really don't want to use treated pine---i have thought about Ipe' any suggestions on what to use and how to treat would be appreciated---

If there is a dirt / wood interface, lining with a moisture barrier may be a good idea.

How wedded are you to wood? This could be a good candidate for the plastic wood alternatives.

check your local craisglist and phone book for lumber, specifically your looking for bandsaw sawmills. A guy that lives about 10 min from me sells red cedar at $0.75 per board foot, you have to finish it, but it is very affordable.

They have a network of bandsaw sawmills that all work together and carry specific types of wood each, and keep the pricing for it pretty close to the same.