We used some treated wood in other areas around the house and termites did eat it. That is why whatever we use if it's wood, we will need to wrap the plastic around it so the termites will have less access to it. Maybe termites did not eat the old style treated wood, but they eat this new stuff. We have termites so very bad. This is some we had in wood we had stored under out deck, it was raised up off the ground and only there for a few months and they ate it, they ate most of the deck (which was treated and painted) back bathroom wall and the sill plate of the kitchen before we bought the house. Even ate the paper off the back of the sheetrock. Even though we have had them treated by pest control, we cannot get rid of them. Trying to work on shedding water away from the house better, re sloping soil around the house, going to put a vapor barrier under crawl space too this summer when it dries out under there.

You may have put in retaining structures before but for RR ties you have to put one , one third, at least in the ground.
I dig a trench flat, if not level and put crushed rock, two inches high, in three spots so the bottom of the RR tie does not touch the ground.
You do not have to, but if you lap the ends of the ties, it looks better and you can drive a lag bolt through to fasten them together, but it is best if you coat the cuts with a good, top line oil based caulk adhesive to seal the cut area from water.

What about pouring a concrete retaining wall? Can be any height you want and will be permanent. I think jerry-rigging with wood, ties, plastic, etc will just create more work a few years down the road.

@RpR thank you!

yes I do think the concrete wall is best, but don't have the oomph to dig down to pour a footer and with the soil /water against it, it would need that or it would eventually lean. Down the road we may do something more nicer, but for now I just need this done. We have too many irons in the fire, need to put up fencing, get a vapor barrier in the crawl space, and still painting the new siding, ect. I've been washing dishes in my bathtub since november have not had a kitchen for 2 years now, so anything just to lay down and look somewhat decent for now, and also not be attractive to termites is my goal.

Oof. Full plate. Good luck!

You need chickens...
When I used untreated wood as a foundation for a pen with the wire stapled to that... The yardbirds dug trenches along the beams... catching termites!

I think I'd be considering some kind of "french drain" or something next to the house.

As far as building a raised bed in that small space? Not sure that I wouldn't dig the material out so that moisture drained into the middle... Of course, then I'd plant mint or louisiana iris or something.
Looks like the drive drains to the street, it seems like it would be easy to just grade that area the same as the drive...

What are you expecting to grow? Looks like a tiny space to me.

I know exactly what you are talking about, Frillylily, with the house being too low (same here. } I think you have a good plan now.

Yes, you HAVE to keep the water away from the house and keep the wood dry. They can only eat in a certain moisture range. (Which is why you can go to the national parks and still see log cabins from almost 200 years ago. ?)

(We removed big shrubs around the house. We dug out and laid one row of the 8 by 16? pavers, then stood up an edge of the same pavers. We used termite bait system for bunch of years, but have not kept it up. I dug out the flower bed that was too high, and made a way for gutter overflow to drain under it better. We worked on drainage all around the house for years. We haven't had any more major problems- but I think your location is worse than mine, warmer.).

The space is about 10 ft wide (from the sidewalk to the house) and about 15 feet long (from the porch to the end of that wall). No, that isn't the street, that is the driveway, the street is all up hill from this area, the whole front yard is slightly sloped toward the house but the sidewalk helps to divert it toward the driveway area some. I never have standing water around the house, it drains well.
I could never keep chickens here, there are too many coyotes/fox and my house is only about 50 ft from a rural black top, I am not in city limits, but we have a city park down the road from us so we have alot of traffic. Don't chicken eat your plants/flowers? I plan on growing different things, iris, lambs ear, alliums, phlox, zinias, daylilies, and some small hydrangeas and a hardy hibiscus are all in the plan. Here is a photo of the area planted up before we started doing the siding and rework.

Frillylily,

I'm sorry about your awful termite problem. I know how you feel. They are a menace.

If you want to try something that they can't bother and you want to move the ornamentals away from the house, as I am, here's a thought.
I got some small plastic wading pools sold in the spring for children. They come in various bright colors. I bought polyester fabric that was on sale that are earth tones. Soon I will be fastening the cloth around the pools with rivets to cover the distracting color of the plastic. I put drain holes in them. They are small enough to keep out moles. I just hope the worms will go in. They will serve as two or three of my raised beds. These are only 12' in circumference and around a foot deep, but will work for shallow root plants, and herbs. I have some that look good for small landscaping plots that even have small- medium bushes.
These pools come in a larger size too. They can even be cut into sections and arranged any way you want. However, be aware that they are not food grade plastic like the 4-5 gallon deli buckets, so use at your own discretion.

If you decide to try this, it's very inexpensive and looks as good as your fabric choice. My moss colored ones look very natural. One thing I will recommend is to get polyester. The dyes in it and cloth are more UV resistant and don't fade nearly as fast as cotton and nylons.
Hope this helps.

I will keep this in mind, I have an area of the yard I may do something like that. The back yard has a huge hemlock tree next to the house (about 15 ft away) and I can't grow a thing in there, plus, yes that too is full of termites. I laid down a few bags of compost one day, about a week later I got around to using it and cut open a bag (had a tear in the side) and my termites had made their way in. We cut a huge sweet gum there about 3 years ago and I think they are all in the ground after those roots as they rot. The tree was so large you could not get your arms around it. So glad that is gone at least. But it created a haven for the termites. We ground the stump out and leveled the ground, but the root system I guess attracts them, we had them here though before we bought the house.

That's one huge gum tree! Sure, the termites are never going away as long as there is food. But in a way, they're helping with the roots.

I don't know if this a possibility, but my in-laws put some kind of black plastic up against their house. It slopes down one way (from one side of the house to the other), but also slopes toward the house, so it would flood the basement depending on what direction the rain went and collected.

But, they inserted some kind of black plastic in front and situated it in such a way, water doesn't penetrate in that area anymore and no more water issues.

Getting back to the original question of using composite decking for raised beds the answer is a huge yes! I built my beds 4 @ 4x4' back in 2005, 17 years of active service and still going strong even thru 2 moves. That's with only having to replace the screws in one board. I would never have bought the composite for beds though, due to how expensive it is but mine were leftovers from our deck. But when you think about 17 years and still going strong...that's pretty good bang for your buck!

If you use composite posts for corners I would recommend using pots caps to deflect water which can cause the post tops to "bloom" from expansion.

Frillylily said: Will this work or will it bow and warp or any other issues? Anyone have experience with it?

Check with your local lumber store for a new composite similar to Hardiboard, but lasts longer. Not sure of the dimensions available, but...good luck with whatever you choose.

do you know the brand of the product you have?

! no kitchen! dishes in the bath tub! Heavens! and your home is so welcoming. I hope you get this problem resolved as soon as possible. Can you get an exterminator out for more protection? I would not use a wood product unless I had no other option.