Landscaping fabric......recommendations please.

Hi Guys,

can anyone suggest a good land scaping fabric, to be topped with gravel.

We've a new house and the front garden is small and mostly uncultivated. I put in a holly hedge and 2 Crab apples (John Downie). We have a pile of gravel on the drive, ordered too much. I just want a quick fix to tidy up the front whilst I get stuck into the rear. I have a lot of treated 1x4" gravel boards (was timber to brace the roof) and tile batterns to create a few boarders, but want something to put on the bare soil beneath the gravel.

Cheers.

 

I have used Plantex soil membrane
http://horticulture.taylorschoice.co.uk/products/138012_plantex_soil_membrane_1m_x_14m.php
Don't get the cheap stuff that looks like polythene - it will be a waste of money and gravel. The Plantex I have used has lasted a long time. In my garden it was OK until I got a labrador. In 5 minutes he pulled half of it up.
I have used it at my in laws on a herbaceous border. I dug it over and then cut slits to plant the plants through. Covered with a thin layer of bark mulch and there has been minimal weeding in 3 years. Absolutely brilliant stuff. Just make sure you remove all perennial weed roots before you put it down.

 

The woven stuff is much more effective than the spun fibre matting and will prevent most perennial weeds growing through.
It's sold under various names Phormisol, Mypex or Terram ( although this used to be white matting for under motorways )
It does come in various weights ( g/m 2 ) so check that when comparing prices

I find it very important to secure the edges and usually make a slit trench with a spade and push the membrane in.Once one side is in, it can be tightened on the opposite side.
Overlaps can be held down with plastic pegs or wire staples.
Good luck with the project

 

agree with above if your planting through otherwise thick plastic is cheaper and fine but do not plat through leads to all sorts of problems. Mipex and plantex are both porus (sp?) so let water and air through to the soil, I thinks both come in different grades (ie gaurenteed to last 10 20 or 30 years)

plantex http://www.lbsbuyersguide.co.uk/catalogsearch/result/?q=plantex

mypex http://www.proturf.co.uk/Products/40/Mypex-Groundcover.aspx

(maybe cheaper sources out there)