Weed barrier?

[jsturm]

(First question, be kind.)

Never used a weed barrier in my vegetable garden, I pull weeds as I see them. My neighbor puts down a carpet-like barrier over his entire garden every spring so he can plant and forget.

He watches me fuss in the garden and thinks I'm crazy. Maybe he's right. What are the pros and cons of a barrier over the soil? It helps hold in moisture but is there a risk of over-saturating the soil in a downpour? Any opinions?

[CharlieBear]

one consideration is cost. Weed barrier is not cheap and deteriorates over time. If you lay it down and then cover with mulch say, after a couple of months the weeds will come up in the decaying mulch. That barrier could work for tomatoes, peppers, squash and other large plants, not as well for root crops and other things that resent being mulched. Then there is the issue of where to store it over the winter, how to dry it out before storage. For this and many other reasons weed barrier is generally used around permanent plantings of low water requiring plants rather than a vegetable garden. The question is how much to you hate gardening and how much money are you going to throw at it

[jsturm]

Thanks for the feedback. I also wondered how I would fertilize around my tomatoes if I had a barrier down over the soil.

Don't have many root vegetables but I do grow carrots. I think I'll continue pulling weeds. Never really minded it anyway, the garden is my sanctuary