The mighty mountain Larch
If you’ve ever wandered through a timber yard, you’ll know that there are many different varieties of timber, each with their own unique properties. One of the most popular woods used for playground construction, particularly in Europe, is Larch.
Our play partner Richter Spielgeräte, which is well known for its stringent wood quality criteria, has been working with Larch timber in their Bavarian workshop for well over thirty years.
They source their Larch from an impressive mountain range known locally as The Alps, which runs along the Germany Austria border. Every piece of timber they source is harvested only from sustainable forestry.
Mountain Larch generally grows at 1000 to 1800m above sea level, so as you can imagine it’s a timber that’s used to climactic extremes.
To ensure the timber is able to dry before fungus spores appear, it is generally cut down during the winter months, and any timber that may have been affected by fungus is discarded.
Richter uses a natural open-air drying process, which helps prevent fungus, and greatly extends the lifespan of the wood. The appearance of natural splits at the end of a Larch pole or log is a sure sign that the timber has been properly air-dried, of by more than 20% of its original moisture content.
Advantages of mountain-grown Larch are considerable, because it has fewer resin pockets, less cracking and tightly-knit year rings. This increases wood stability and greatly enhances its durability.
Forestry workers often refer to Larch trees as Oak of the mountains, because of the exceptional quality of wood that the tree produces. It has good structural strength, high rot resistance, and is used for boats, railway sleepers, roof shingles and framing.
Another reason Larch is so popular is it is very low maintenance, as it has a natural resistance to weathering.
Children have a fascination for the Larch timber used in playground construction, as its natural splits and knot-holes appear endlessly interesting to young enquiring fingers and minds.
