Mulching sheet / woven fabric

I want to put some sheeting down to kill some weeds.

I have two areas.

First is a long hedge (200 yards) planted this spring. Keeping it weeded, and moist, is taking time which I would prefer to be using for other things and I should really have through ahead and planted it through a mulch sheet.

Second is an area by a new pond I am making. Its got mares tail, is under some trees, and a couple of bushes, but is basically not an important piece of ground, except that it is next to the new pond and I don't want the mares tail getting into the "shelf" for marginal plants that I'm creating.

So I reckon it would be best just to cover the whole area - I can run the mulching sheet under the pond liner, so that there isn't any free soil :thumb: and hopefully after a year or two the mares tails will be GONE!.

What material / supplier would anyone suggest?

Thanks

 

Hi kristen

I can't recommend a supplier, but I have used woven fabric in the past, and it still isn't fool proof.

For example...I made a few paths around my garden using the woven fabric and a good 2" shale or grit whatever you which to call it on top. Weed and grass seeds grew on top of it as well as some things like white bluebells actually forced them selves up through it.

The pond shouldn't be a problem in itself. If you use rubber instead of butyl, (more expensive but virtually guaranteed for life) laid on carpet or similar...no weeds whatsoever will grow through.

Cheers.

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/WOVEN-WEED-CO...rkparms=72:12|39:1|65:12&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

thats quite good stuff :thumb:

 

Hello all,


I am extremely annoyed with myself now, I have spent the day laying this stuff down and carting soil and compost around. My back is splitting - again and I have even cut my hand with the knife I was using. and now I learn the stuff doesn`t even work. Every single time.............


Even bought some rooting powder-and just been told you don`t need it.


I will nonetheless persevere to believe-or perversely believe that it will work. And stubbornly use the powder.

 

Dont waste your money, sort the weeds with roundup and or by forking then a thick multch of bark, hoe of any weeds that come.

Membrane actually traps weedseeds and as the bark degrades it forms a haveen for weeds.

 

Hi John,

I have a load of old books from a house clearance and quite a few gardening books were in it-hence my obsession with double digging and exact training of roses and in one it says there is no need for "special preparations" good compost and good cuttings are the best. Don`t care though I am still gonna use it-I`ve paid money for it now.


Hi Pro Gard, I read on the internet that roundup was a terrible thingh to use. Is this not true then

 

"Weed and grass seeds grew on top of it"

Weeds on top I can cope with - so long as the weeds underneath have "had-it"!

".no weeds whatsoever will grow through [the pond liner]"

Yup, thanks, I realise that, but the close proximity of the mares tails and the risk that they might spread into the marginal-plant shelf is something that I want to avoid - at any cost. I have sprayed the mares tails with roundup (having first beaten hem over the head with the back of a spade), but I know from experience that this is a pernicious weed, and that I won't have killed it - yet!

"and now I learn the stuff doesn`t even work"

I expect its going to work for what you want. Seeds that grow on TOP will survive, but they won't have a lot of soil to live on, and will probably die, and if not will be easy enough to disturb such that they shrivel and die.

"Even bought some rooting powder-and just been told you don`t need it"

Yeah, but threatening the blighters with it will do wonders!

"sort the weeds with roundup"

Pond is being constructed as of now, I don't believe I can kill of mares tails, based on previous experience, inside of a year or two using Roundup plus judicious digging / hoeing etc.

Is Agent Orange no longer being sold? :D

"I read on the internet that roundup was a terrible thingh to use. Is this not true then"

Depends I suppose. I believe it is safe to drink (the story goes that salesmen used to drink it at presentations to demonstrate it was safe). Either way, its not too harmful.

It is a very effectively plant killer. Things like Gramoxone ("Weedol" and the like) just dessicate the plant; within 24 or 48 hours the plant looks completely dead, but then the roots often grow back. That's what we had back in the old days - 60's and 70's I think.

Then Round-up (Glyphospahtate) came along - I'm guessing '80s. That gets transported down into the plants roots where it kills them. You often see no appreciable effect for a week or two, and then the plant yellows and generally it does not come back.

If you want to be truly organic and use zero herbicides its definitely a bad thing, but otherwise, on a scale of 1-to-10 its not bad, doesn't persist in the soil, and is generally not too troublesome for wildlife etc. plus the fact that it normally kills in one application, and therefore does not need multiple applications, is a Good Thing. But whatever you do do NOT spray it on any plant you want to keep!

 

thanks kristen for such a comprehensive answer. I was actually preparing a bed from scratch so it sounds like this would be the best of times to use round up if there was ny. I dont mind using a weedkiller, but i quite like some of the liitle pressies that the visiting (and subsequently pooping) birds bring us under the tree branches

 

PS I wonder what state the salesmen are in now. Not sure theres enough money in it to tempt me-and I once sold car insurance (thats it now everyone here will definitely hate me-never been a traffic warden though if that helps at all)

 

"I wonder what state the salesmen are in now"

Apparently it goes best with tequila, so I reckon they will be pickled!

http://sandwalk.blogspot.com/2007/03/roundup-is-safe.html

"sounds like this would be the best of times to use round up if there was ny"

Roundup is most effective if applied to reasonably new growth (not necessarily tiny weeds, as such, but things that are growing actively). If you've just cut the growth down then that's not ideal for Roundup, you'd need to let it grow back a bit first.

 

" It will not stop mares tail"

Is that because some light is let through? If so would I be better with black plastic?

 

You wont kill mares tails even by using the smothering method regardless of the type of plastic, you can however control them by hoeing.

Roundup (glyphosate) is one of the safest and most efective weedkillers available, If your website says different then I sudgest you take the sight content with a seriuse pinch of salt. One of the many benefits of roundup is that it doesnt persist in the soil and is pet safe once dry.