ground cover
I am thinking of using ground cover sheeting in my flower beds this year as I have to many to do all the weeding necessary. Does anyone use ground sheeting in their beds? If so what is the best kind to use? Does anyone recommend plastic?
Great advise. Even the best barrier cloth will eventually get weeds simply because you are 'hiding' it with mulch. The mulch turns to compost and seeds will root in it. That doesn't mean you can pull them easily as the tiny roots grow through the little holes so you just end up breaking them off and they regrow from the roots. Also, if you pull up the barrier after a few months the soil looks slimy and dead. It's also a bear to take up.
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rainbowgardener
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- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
Totally agree with Mg. I have lived several places where someone had put down plastic weed barrier. It is a total pain! After the first year or two, the pores in it relax or something and weeds start growing through it. But they are tangled in it, so you can't just pull them. You end up having to pull the plastic back out. Like Mg, I am still pulling black plastic out of some of my beds, even though we have lived here 11 yrs.
Like Mg said, weed and mulch!
Like Mg said, weed and mulch!
don't overlook the newspaper 'barrier' trick - it's extremely effective for 2, sometimes three years and much easier to "maintain" when it is fully degraded / rotted away
if you've just got little pathways / areas around / between things, it's a pain to 'tear / fold / arrange the newspaper - then again these areas are often shaded by the stuff growing and weeds are more minimal.
for large(r) open areas - a newspaper barrier is cheap / easy / quick and very effective - and those big areas are the ones you don't even want to look at when you get home . . .
if you've just got little pathways / areas around / between things, it's a pain to 'tear / fold / arrange the newspaper - then again these areas are often shaded by the stuff growing and weeds are more minimal.
for large(r) open areas - a newspaper barrier is cheap / easy / quick and very effective - and those big areas are the ones you don't even want to look at when you get home . . .
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ElizabethB
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- Location: Lafayette, LA
Absolutely HATE ground cloth/weed barriers. You put mulch on top to hide it weeds germinate in the mulch. If you have nut sedge that stuff will grow through concrete. You limit your ability to cultivate. 
Really a pet peeve. I have used many differnt types of mulch. Most mulch serves as a moisture conservation measure and not so much for weed control. An exception is pine straw. A thick layer (12") of pine straw - allowed to pack down really helps with weed control. Next best is shredded cypress bark. I have had no problem with acid from the pine straw. I have soil test done every couple of years so I am not just talking.
BTW if you are concerned about cypress bark - it is cutivated not old growth.
IDK how you feel about herbicides. If you will not be planting seeds then Amaze tilled in will give you 6 months of weed prevention.
Good luck and Merry Christmas
Really a pet peeve. I have used many differnt types of mulch. Most mulch serves as a moisture conservation measure and not so much for weed control. An exception is pine straw. A thick layer (12") of pine straw - allowed to pack down really helps with weed control. Next best is shredded cypress bark. I have had no problem with acid from the pine straw. I have soil test done every couple of years so I am not just talking.BTW if you are concerned about cypress bark - it is cutivated not old growth.
IDK how you feel about herbicides. If you will not be planting seeds then Amaze tilled in will give you 6 months of weed prevention.
Good luck and Merry Christmas
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rainbowgardener
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- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
So here is where I part company with the Master Gardener program.
Amaze is listed as 98% "inert" ingredients, unspecified, which always makes me a little suspicious.
But the active ingredients, 1% each, are benefin and oryzalin, both of which are in the herbicide family called dinitroanilines. Here's some of what we know about dinitroanilines:
dinitroanilines
carcinogens https://oehha.ca.gov/prop65/public_meeti ... nepest.pdf
on hazardous substances list
https://nj.gov/health/eoh/rtkweb/documents/fs/0776.pdf
highly toxic to fish, molluscs and river/ marine invertebrates zooplankton
https://www.pesticideinfo.org/Detail_Che ... Id=PC35336
https://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/REDs/factsh ... lin_fs.pdf
The oryzalin particularly is a Calif Prop 65 known carcinogen, Pesticide Action Network "Bad Actor Chemical," suspected endocrine disruptor, highly toxic to crustaceans and zooplankton, moderately toxic to fish.
https://www.pesticideinfo.org/Detail_Che ... Id=PC35360
Everybody has to make their own choices about what they put in the environment, but at least you should know what it is.
Amaze is listed as 98% "inert" ingredients, unspecified, which always makes me a little suspicious.
But the active ingredients, 1% each, are benefin and oryzalin, both of which are in the herbicide family called dinitroanilines. Here's some of what we know about dinitroanilines:
dinitroanilines
carcinogens https://oehha.ca.gov/prop65/public_meeti ... nepest.pdf
on hazardous substances list
https://nj.gov/health/eoh/rtkweb/documents/fs/0776.pdf
highly toxic to fish, molluscs and river/ marine invertebrates zooplankton
https://www.pesticideinfo.org/Detail_Che ... Id=PC35336
https://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/REDs/factsh ... lin_fs.pdf
The oryzalin particularly is a Calif Prop 65 known carcinogen, Pesticide Action Network "Bad Actor Chemical," suspected endocrine disruptor, highly toxic to crustaceans and zooplankton, moderately toxic to fish.
https://www.pesticideinfo.org/Detail_Che ... Id=PC35360
Everybody has to make their own choices about what they put in the environment, but at least you should know what it is.