American Softwoods
American softwoods are renowned for their strength, flexibility and versatility and have been exported for almost 400 years. Examples include Southern Pine, Douglas Fir and Western Hemlock. Treated Southern Pine is particularly suitable for decking, including garden decks and timber decks.
American Softwoods is the umbrella name for the two major U.S. softwood trade associations, namely Southern Pine Council and the Softwood Export Council and markets American softwoods into Europe, together with providing technical assistance and information when required.
When it comes to choosing the right wood for use outdoors, Southern Pine is more suited than other softwoods because of its strength, flexibility and durability. Preservative penetrates deep into the timber – unlike many other timbers that only allow limited preservative penetration. Southern Pine is the ideal choice for outdoor projects such as decking and playground equipment.
These qualities are particularly appealing when considering timber for use in the British climate and Southern Pine comes with a 40 year guarantee against rot compared with 25 years for most alternative timbers.
Southern Pine is renowned as ‘the supreme structural wood of the world’ due to its durability, treatability and design versatility. Its exceptional strength and extreme ease of treatment combine to make it the perfect outdoor timber”.
Specifying Southern Pine now comes with the reassurance that the timber is sourced from sustainable resources. This follows the UK Government’s acceptance that the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) provides a clear indicator of sustainable forest management with companies within the SFI programme planting or growing more trees than they harvest each year.
