Plantex Fabric under turf.

Plantex Fabric can be laid under turf to help reduce weeds. I want to know is this a good product to use and what is the process of using it?ie old weed filled ground ,that was once a lawn, needs digging over remove larger weeds, stones etc and level area.Then do you simply lay plantex over soil and then a layer of soil, tamped down .then turf on top, or am i misled totally.Please help .

 

I've never used any fabric under a lawn myself. Plantex is a good product, but with a lawn, it does rather depend on what you want from it. Is it a showpiece area, or simply a bit of grass that you want to keep looking quite nice?

If I'm getting ground ready for grass, or re-laying or re-seeeding a lawn, I get rid of perennial weeds, by digging out all the roots possible, leaving for 2-3 weeks, hoeing to deal with the annual weeds that will have sprung up, then raking and treading with heels (the bunny-walk!!) then raking seeding or turfing and bingo - you've got grass! Don't see the need for any fabric, so IMHO, save the expense.... :D

 

Thanks for the advice but the expense is around �£45 and there is a lot of weeds to dig out so i may miss a few when i dig out the old stubborn ones that are there.Its also for speed as i need to get the lawn prep. and lay done in 2 days.

 

What a bizarre way to go about laying a lawn! I suppose the fabric would supress the weeds (though I think it is too flimsy myself - I would use Terram 1000) but you will need to import a lot of soil to put on top of it to give an adequate rooting depth - really a minimum of 4-6" (or 100-150mm if that's what turns your dial) and then the turf or preferably seed. The lawn height thus goes up. If you don't use this much the grass will dry up and brown off over the course of one hot day in summer without water, as the capillarity of the soil is broken by the Plantex. Are you prepared for this?

 

i think you stunned her totally jazid!

 

Oh dear. Well I hope Sally doesn't take it all too seriously, but really! Sounds like some maniac gave her the original advice; possibly a person with a roll of Plantex to sell. :D :D

 

I have experimented with a woven weed control fabric under turf with little or no soil on top of the mat; there was a problem with drying out to start with but the grass then rooted through the mat & established as normal.
There is the risk of some tough old weeds pushing through, but that's a risk with most preparation methods.
I've never tried this on an actual customers job, mainly because of the initial maintenance required, this would obviously be less of a problem with a deeper layer of soil on top of the mat.
It depends on the site, levels, willingness to water/weed/spray, cost, etc. as to whether its a good idea.