Permeable Weed Suppressing Membrane - Yay or Nay and how you use it

[SarrissUK]

I have the membrane in my dry front garden covered with gravel and that has done its job I suppose.

I don't use it for my path in the back garden, and not in raised beds because I don't like how the weeds come up around the edges and it takes more effort to get rid of them, than if I don't have the membrane. I prefer to have no membrane and use a hoe to slice off weeds. At no point during the year do I hoe more than once a week and it takes ten minutes to do everything.

[chris_m]

I used it under my semi-raised beds.

Having made the timber sides and ends, 18" high, I sank them into the ground leaving about 4" proud, then dug out the contents to a depth of about 3', lined the hole with permeable weed barrier membrane and refilled, adding extra manure, compost and finishing with some decent topsoil.

The crops have done pretty well (much better than last year) and the Horse Tail hasn't - a few have come up but weak/straggly and easily pulled out so I think they came from bits of root I'd missed during the digging out and refilling.

[Jay-ell]

I'm digging it out from the bottom of the beds in the New Territories where it's been down donkeys years and is now used by the weeds to wick water to their roots. Which I hadn't planted those beds with perennials now.

[boatsman]

I have used it between paving stones between the rows of flowers. I was rather disappointed with it as weeds were appearing on the surface with their roots going through the membrane. I don't think I would use it again.