mayo
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Joined: Wed Jun 10, 2009 5:03 pm
Location: Reno

New bed on weed barrier questions

Hi all, I just created a new, small bed around a young tree in our north-facing front yard. The weed barrier is still down, but there's enough depth to add 4-6 inches of soil on top of that. My questions are, what could grow in this bed if I left that weed barrier down on the bottom and is it better to just cut out that portion of weed barrier?

I'm in Southwest zone 2b or US Hardiness 6. The rest of that area is a gravel area (hence the weed barrier). The tree is young enough that it only provides light (if that) shade at the moment. Looking for non-evasive perennials but I'm also open to annuals until the tree provides more consistent shade.

Please and thank you!

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rainbowgardener
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Location: TN/GA 7b

Lots of opinions on that stuff. I personally don't like it very much, because after a few years weeds do grow through it at which point the weeds are very hard to get rid of and I end up digging the barrier out again.

But if you are going to leave it and just plant in the soil on top of it, that's a good reason for just doing annuals. Lots of annuals, like impatiens do just fine in that amount of soil. Another reason for doing annuals now is that the tree is young and will produce more shade later. A lot of perennials that would like the current situation won't like it so much once it's more shady there.

If you are planting perennials with the weed barrier, you just need to cut a slit in the barrier cloth so that you can make a planting hole down into the actual earth.

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hendi_alex
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Location: Central Sand Hills South Carolina

I've tried weed guard and liners in a similar area that is more established. The tree roots do get through and the liner just ends up being a waste of time and trouble to remove. Also, in my area, tree roots were too much competition to grow shade loving perennials. After many tries I gave up on the perennial concept. Each year now, I loosen the soil and plant annuals such as coleus and impatiens. Those plants thrive for a season in the tilled soil that is mostly free of roots for the first half of the season. I limit the perennials to plants in planters, spaced throughout the planting area.

Here is a photo of my shady area while the plants were still young this spring.

[img]https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3346/3536581372_bec69ac960.jpg[/img]

mayo
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Posts: 42
Joined: Wed Jun 10, 2009 5:03 pm
Location: Reno

Thank you both so much for your help! So I'll cut out the weed barrier and plant annuals until the shade is a little more steady. I feel a trip to the nursery this evening! :)

hendi_alex, that photo is gorgeous! So peaceful but still lively to look at. Definitely an inspiration for me!



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