Almost every garden has one. And if you take a walk, you'll come across dozens of them: The Netherlands is full of wooden fences. And often they have a layer of paint on them, to make sure they stay nice and beautiful for a long time.
But did you know that there are often toxins in that paint? They can end up in the groundwater and are harmful to humans and animals.
However, to keep wood beautiful and good it needs a protective coating. But how can we do this in an environmentally friendly way?
Did you know that there is a fungus that can help with this? Most fungi on wood will eat the wood, but not this one. This fungus protects the wood from the sun. And along with a linseed oil treatment, this fungus can protect the wood from other, more harmful, fungi. Just as paint would have done.
The fungus sticks itself to the wood with a kind of glue layer. But sometimes it doesn't stick as fast and the fungus coating can wash off. That's why I'm investigating when this happens and especially when the fungus does adhere very well.
Because if we know that, we can make sure that this fungus coating always sticks.
So you can paint your fence in an environmentally friendly way, without toxins!