Hi all,
I recently bought some weed fabric - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GREEN-125GSM- ... 61e468953e to lay down on my new allotment. I found that some on my allotment use weed fabric and some don't, I was even warned that my crop would 'taste like plastic' I am not sure whether to return it and not use it. Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Ken
I do use non-woven weed fabric in my pathways, under pavers and a combination of weed block and plastic bags from the perlite and potting soil under my potted plants.
Non-woven weed fabric stops nut sedge better. Nut sedge goes right through plastic. I still have to mulch on top of the weedblock in the pathways or they get too slippery when it rains. The weeds are easier to pull in the mulch if they don't root through the weed block.
In the garden weed block has not worked out well. The plastic weed block has perforations and you have to make sure the right side it up or water pools on top. It is hard to water unless you run a drip system under it or use emitters for each plant. Wherever you put holes in the fabric to put in the plants, weeds will come up too.
People get good results using organic mulches in the garden. If you have a thick enough layer it will reduce, but not eliminate weeds.
It is still better to use a drip system under mulch or you will have to water the mulch before you can water the soil.
I use several layers of newspaper as much in the vegetable garden. It lets the water through and it decomposes over time. It does not stop the weeds for more than a month or two, but gives the plants a chance to be able to compete with what weeds do come up.
Plastic mulch does deteriorate and shred over time and in any of the synthetic mulches, any holes in the mulch are opportunities that weeds will always take advantage of.
I do use weed block for to cover the pots for the orchid show.
Non-woven weed fabric stops nut sedge better. Nut sedge goes right through plastic. I still have to mulch on top of the weedblock in the pathways or they get too slippery when it rains. The weeds are easier to pull in the mulch if they don't root through the weed block.
In the garden weed block has not worked out well. The plastic weed block has perforations and you have to make sure the right side it up or water pools on top. It is hard to water unless you run a drip system under it or use emitters for each plant. Wherever you put holes in the fabric to put in the plants, weeds will come up too.
People get good results using organic mulches in the garden. If you have a thick enough layer it will reduce, but not eliminate weeds.
It is still better to use a drip system under mulch or you will have to water the mulch before you can water the soil.
I use several layers of newspaper as much in the vegetable garden. It lets the water through and it decomposes over time. It does not stop the weeds for more than a month or two, but gives the plants a chance to be able to compete with what weeds do come up.
Plastic mulch does deteriorate and shred over time and in any of the synthetic mulches, any holes in the mulch are opportunities that weeds will always take advantage of.
I do use weed block for to cover the pots for the orchid show.
Some weed roots will just work their way around, under and down through the fabric, Ken.
I had a terrible mess to deal with trying to clean up the neighbor's garden.
After a couple years of neglecting the weeds that began to grow around and through, it would have been much easier to remove weeds if the fabric had never been put down. Maybe with regular conscientious attention it would have been a much more reasonable choice but that was not the history of that garden.
Steve
I had a terrible mess to deal with trying to clean up the neighbor's garden.
After a couple years of neglecting the weeds that began to grow around and through, it would have been much easier to remove weeds if the fabric had never been put down. Maybe with regular conscientious attention it would have been a much more reasonable choice but that was not the history of that garden.
Steve
I also had good weed control with pine needles and I like it because unlike other mulches is is more open, does not pack down or keep water from getting through. Fewer weeds grow through it or on it. I could not use it around alliums though, they were not compatible. For that I used leaf mulch, but the weeds do grow through that pretty easily.
The soil there is very alkaline so an acidic mulch doesn't hurt either.
The soil there is very alkaline so an acidic mulch doesn't hurt either.
Wood chips are not as good as the pine shavings because you never know what types of chips you are getting and some trees deter plant growth especially nut trees . Several years ago we cut down a 50 year old pine tree and had it ground up. The pine needles under the tree were a foot deep like a compost. Those pine needle composted material gave me the best garden ever.
