Weed barrier for garden boxes

[tgignac]

Hi there;

I am trying my hand at vegetable gardening this year and built a few garden boxes. I made them 3' X 6' and stapled weed barrier cloth to the bottoms of them to prevent any of the weeds growing up into my compost.

I have a question. Once the boxes are full of compost, could I cover them with the same weed barrier cloth and cut holes where I plant seeds or plants? This would allow rain water to still penetrate and keep any weeds from growing in the beds.

Any have any experience with this?

Thanks

Tom

[hay]

Weed barriers,IMO, do not work. A total waste of time and money. I had put some down years ago thinking that they woud supress any weeds. No such luck! Just as many weeds as without the 'barrier'. Weeding is just a way of life for gardeners. Beside when out weeding, it gives one a chance to get up really close and personal with the garden plants to inspect for bugs and other problems.

[rainbowgardener]

For me, weed barriers work for a little while (depending on the situation, could be a few months to a couple seasons), but the weeds always do end up growing through them. And then of course they are terrible to try to pull because they are caught in the landscaping fabric. So I always eventually end up pulling the fabric out.

It works better just to lay down a good thick layer of mulch (after your plants are sprouted/ established). This also suppresses weeds, but it is good for your soil, adds nutrients.

[DoubleDogFarm]

I with Rainbow on this one. The biggest part of gardening is the soil. Building soil. Plastic may warm the soil, but adds no nutrients. The plastic on the bottom concerns me a little also. What if it becomes plugged, you may end up with anaerobic situation.

[Duh_Vinci]

A thick, quality landscaping cloth does work imo, I've been using whatever brand Costco sells - never seen anything tougher! Light gray color. It does suppress weeds very well.

For the boxes though - I've used it before, but now, as we speak - ripping it out. And that involves removing all of the soil, then filling the boxes back up. Why am I doing it? My boxes are on the soil/ground. And I believe that the soil does not breath as well. Besides, good friends - worms really don't get into those sealed boxes, soil beneath is very compacted.

On the other hand, those boxes that I built w/o the cloth underneath - swarming with worm, nice and loamy. Worms drill the soil - roots can grow deeper. That's just my opinion on it and a little observation of my beds over the past 2 years.

Regards,
D