Prime French Oak Sleepers

The Stone Zone Prime French Oak Sleepers are our best-quality Oak Sleepers. Our Oak Sleepers are some of our best-selling products as they are popular with both Trade and Retail customers. We supply them in the industry standard size of 2.4m x 200mm x 100mm.

The Oak Railway Sleepers that we supply are derived from untreated, hardwood Oak. This specific type of Oak is always high in demand as they contain desirable qualities that come naturally to them. Due to their natural qualities, these sleepers are an excellent long-term investment because they are able to keep from rotting and have a life expectancy of around 20 years.

Our Prime Sleepers are FSC Certified Sleepers, meaning they are untreated and freshly cut from Forest Stewardship Council-certified timber. This ensures that the sleepers are made sustainably and do not damage forest areas or contribute to deforestation.

With their light-tanned colour, the Oak Garden Sleepers cater to a wide range of design choices, making them popular amongst our customers. These sleepers are a light-brown colour that will look excellent even without being untreated; although many buyers do tend to stain or paint their sleepers in accordance with their colour palette. Finally, over time you will notice, if you leave your sleepers untreated, they do turn into a lovely silver colour.

Additional Information

• Ideal for edging, borders and raised vegetable beds
• Can be hand-sawn or machine
• Measures 2.4m x 200mm x 100mm
• Sustainably sourced
• Guaranteed to consist of 4 'good' sides

Need less than 10 sleepers? Call 01202 874207 to order over the phone.

Oak Sleepers as Raised Beds

A common way of using Oak Sleepers is to build raised plant beds in your garden or allotment. Our Prime French Sleepers are easy to handle, even though they are tougher to cut by hand when compared to Pine Sleepers. Regardless, to avoid any issues they have always been machine-cut to precision.

Growing your plants in a raised plant bed, you will be able to protect them from the dangers that are currently found on the ground. Most namely slugs are notorious for chewing through plants and flowers, therefore to have the plants elevated will save them from the sloths. Moreover, they are an excellent way to keep up with your planting even if you have dexterity issues, as you won't have to kneel to dig or de-weed as the platform is raised.

Oak Sleepers for Garden Edging

Another way that Oak Sleepers are used that is quite popular is to use them as edging and to use them as flower beds to create unique borders around your garden.

Oak Sleepers are an excellent choice if you want to plant flowers on the ground level. The great quality Oak and its colour will help your garden look rustic and unique, paired with the bright colours of the flowers will enhance your garden borders exponentially. Putting this together is fairly straightforward as the sleepers can contain a wide range of plants, shrubs, flowers and more, when paired with our Wessex Soils or maybe Woodland Mulch. As a result, you will have an attractive edging surrounding your garden.

This design idea will work irrespective of whether you have a garden that's just one-level or multi-level, you can use the Prime French Sleepers to create a divide between different areas within your garden, for example between the patio and the lawn. Our Oak Sleepers are versatile and will look great with a wide range of surfaces such as Artificial Grass, either Porcelain or Sandstone Paving, and especially next to areas that contain any form of Chippings or Decorative Stones. 

Furthermore, the Prime Sleepers also look lovely as outdoor edging paths. If you decide to decorate your garden with Path Chippings to create a pathway, Oak Sleepers will look particularly appealing as edging for this design as they colours match well, creating a seamless look.

PLEASE NOTE: Whilst these Oak Sleepers obtain high-grade qualities, they are classed as 'Landscaping Grade'. This means they will have at least two 'good' sides to them and may have some fraying or rough sides. This makes them perfect for adding to gardens where 2 sides may not be seen. 

How to Create a Raised Sleeper Bed

Making your own raised sleeper bed is a simpler DIY task than many people might think, provided you have all the right materials and equipment you need, it can be completed by the experienced DIYer. With these Sleepers being perfectly rectangular shaped, it makes them easy to construct by attaching them together with Hex Head Timber Screws. Follow this guide for all the tips you'll need!

Suggested Equipment

• Spade
• Scissors
• Spirit Level
• Drill
• Sand Paper
• Exterior coach screws
• 10mm Flat Wood Drill Bit
• 32mm Flat Wood Drill Bit
• 17mm Socket and Rachet
• Weed fabric

Firstly, put your Sleepers down where you'd like them to go; the place in which you create your raised sleeper bed is vital, and the biggest thing to consider is what you're planning on planting. If you're planting specific fruits and vegetables, you'll need to check how much sunlight they need; equally, you'll need to do the same for other plants you're planting.

Once you've chosen the optimum place for your sleeper bed to go, leave the sleepers there and, using your spade, dig out the area to include your sleepers to go in. Make sure you go at least 30mm deep into the ground and take care to remove any stones, sticks and weeds. You can then use your spirit level to check that the ground is level. 

We would recommend using weed fabric at the base of the sleeper bed, so the second stage would be the best to lay this down. Remove the sleepers from the desired area, and roll out your weed membrane to get an idea of how much you need to cut it down to. Cut around the fabric leaving a little extra around the edges, and lay down onto the area.

As an added option to this process, some people might choose to lay a permeable aggregate on top of the weed membrane. This step ensures good drainage to prevent oversoaking your plants, as well as prevent rotting of your railway sleepers. Use either Scalpings or Crushed Concrete for a cost-effective solution, you only need a 10mm layer to cover your weed fabric.

The sleepers can now finally be put back into place. Drill 2 pilot holes into the end of the outer sleeper, and into the shorter sleeper. You’ll do this by using the 10mm flat wood drill bit. Then use your 32mm drill bit to drill approximately 1cm into the wood on top of these 2 newly drilled holes. This will allow the screw heads to be recessed. Place the 15cm exterior coach screws into the holes and tighten them with the 17mm socket and rachet. Do this process for all 4 corners.

You have a couple of options when it comes to securing multiple tiers on top of each other. You could drill pilot holes into the corners of the top tiers going into the sleepers below, securing with coach screws by using the same method in step 5.

Alternatively, you could buy some batten wood, which is readily available from most builders’ merchants, place it in each corner and drill a pilot hole and secure it with coach screws this way.

Ensure you use sandpaper to sand down the corner edges of the sleepers as well as any visible areas to create a smooth finish. Ensure you wear gloves, a dust mask and goggles when sanding the wood down!

Differences Between Landscaping Sleepers & Prime French Oak Sleepers

At Stone Zone, we supply 2 different types of Oak Sleepers, which gives you the option to choose the ones that are perfect for your garden.

The main difference as you may already know is that Landscaping Sleepers have 2 good sides, whereas the Prime French Sleepers possess 4 good sides. The difference occurs as a result of how these sleepers are made. When trees are being cut to create these sleepers, the logs for the Prime French Sleepers are cut directly for the middle of the tree bark, ensuring that you have 4 crisp, smooth sides. On the other hand, our Landscaping sleepers are usually cut from the edges of the bark, which guarantees 2 good sides but the other 2 may vary.

For utility purposes, both types of Sleepers are very similar in quality and durability with the exception of the Prime French Sleepers being slightly more stable due to their 4 level sides. But you do not have to worry about one of their qualities and longevity being better or worse than the others, you just have to choose the one that is appropriate for you. There is also a visual discrepancy; if you want to create an elegant-looking garden with raised plant beds, you may consider the Prime French Sleepers, but at the same time you may want our Landscaping Sleepers for more practical purposes such as edging, a situation where 2 possibly imperfect sides would not have any negative effect on your garden.

How to Buy Oak Railway Sleepers

Our Prime French Oak Sleepers can be collected for free at one of our depots in Wimborne, Bournemouth or Dorchester, or can be delivered for free to local postcodes in Dorset! We also deliver nationally to anywhere in the UK.

We can deliver less than 10 sleepers to your home address or direct to the site. Please call our friendly team on 01202 874207 if you require this service.

PLEASE NOTE: Due to the nature of our Sleepers, the colours and finish may vary. We would recommend choosing them from one of our depots if you are looking for consistent colours.  

Buy With Confidence

• Our Prime French Oak Sleepers can be purchased with a minimum order of 10 online; you can phone us if you require less than this
• Please select the number of sleepers you'd like and add them to your basket 
• Our Sleepers will either arrive on a HIAB lorry that can be used to lift the stone onto your garden, or it will arrive on a pallet for kerbside delivery; depending on your address
• You can choose a free collection from one of our Depots or fuss-free, home delivery.

A Service You Can Rely On

• Our reliable service offers prompt delivery to any area in the UK
• Stone Zone is a family-run business that has been well-established since 1998
• Our efficient customer advisors can help you with your purchase
• We pride ourselves on offering a range of affordable garden supplies 

A Delivery Service you can Rely on

You don't need to be there for delivery; if you're happy to do so, our delivery drivers can deliver bulk bags to your front garden without a signature.

Alternatively, our experienced drivers can operate their lorries to deliver bulk bags over fences at the front, side or back of your property, you will need to be present for this delivery type.   

Please let us know if there are any access difficulties to your road or property. If your property has very tight access and we need to use a small lorry, a surcharge of £30 + vat will apply.   

Any questions? Use our live chat to speak to an advisor, alternatively, you can fill out an enquiry form or call us on 01202 874207.