Weed Control - Fabric or Plastic?

[buzzingtalk]

What works best for paths? I will be putting wood chip and bark on top of it.

[jonohanson]

I did 2 beds like that when I first had my plot. Meant I could grow potatoes and sweetcorn in patched that hadn't been fully cleared. It worked well, and the soil was a joy to dig afterwards to get the last docks etc out.

I have always thought of doing this but never got arount to it, 1 question for spuds how did you know where to cut the holes for them to come through?

[hamamelis]

The people saying use cardboard, do you mind explaining for a clueless person how you're meant to use it? Is just one layer OK, and what, if anything, do you use to make it stay put? I'm trying to battle the jungle for as little money as I can manage- I have access to free council leaf mould, should I spread a layer of that on top? Thanks for any help.

[Two_Sheds]

You use cardboard like you would any other mulch, ie lay it on top of the soil/weeds.

It's best if you lay it on damp soil (to trap moisture in the ground) and on warm, never frozen, ground. It will blow around if you don't weight it down: a shovel full of earth, a bag of grass clippings/leafmold or a few water-filled bottles will do the trick

[hamamelis]

Thanks! I don't want to buy massive amounts of plastic to smother the whole plot for one season; seems very wasteful, so I'll give this a go

[SarzWix]

I usually put the cardboard down and then cover it with either: manure (well vetted to ensure non contamination with aminopyralid), my own rotted compost, or straw. It al adds to the soil and aids the suppression of weeds If you can get free stuff from the council, you might as well have it

[Two_Sheds]

I don't want to buy massive amounts of plastic to smother the whole plot

Quite.

I nick cardboard boxes from round the back of small shops (supermarkets have too much security), but mostly I use newspapers: whole ones, soaked like papier mache then layered on the ground. We get a newspaper every day, plus the freesheets

[vikkib]

Update!

Well a year or so on from debating what to do about suppressing the weeds and I thought I'd give a bit of an update!

I ended up doing a mix of cardboard and plastic type weed suppressant.

Has to be said that both did a great job and are making the plot feel a lot more manageable which is fantatstic!

The plastic has been a pain with the edges fraying, I tried a cooks blowtorch but couldn't get on with it. In the end I've bought myself a gas powered soldering iron and it is brilliant! Can even use it to 'cut' the suppressant to size.

The plastic seems to be fine in terms of allowing water through and it does keep the ground warm and stops moisture evaporating.

The cardboard was a bit of a pain in terms of keeping it weighed down as I could only get my hands on relatively small pieces and once the chickweed started growing in the buckets/pots I was using to weigh down the cardboard to suppress the chickweed it looked a little ridiculous!

I'm really grateful for all the feedback and ideas that everyone gave and it certainly saved me a lot of stress and heartache this year!

[Kaiya]

Good to have an update! I used the exact fabric you linked to in your first post. I used it initally to cover large beds for about 5 months, to great effect. Although it's supposed to be water permeable, once put over a bed without any mulch on top it shed all water straight off it. The soil underneath remained dry, which for clay meant that when I removed the fabric in spring I had dry crumbly beds where all uncovered soil was sodden clay. After that I cut it into strips and use it as paths now. I hemmed it with duct tape tabs by folding it over 2.5 inches after fraying the edge by 1 inch and that's been reasonably good at limiting the irritating fraying though the duct tape isn't waterproof. It does harbour the occasional slug but so does my cardboard/paper mulching and indeed my nasturtiums, and at least if you know where they are hiding you can go on a slug killing spree.

[bobbin]

Weed suppressant dilemma!

I am definitely going to give cardboard a go to suppress weeds.My well meaning husband bought me a large roll of weed supressent, but unfortunately he bought the wrong guage and it just disintergrates and blows around the allotment!
Someone mentioned putting chickweed in the compost but I don't like to do that as the
seeds of the little blighter are so prolific I don't want to risk it. My allotment was covered in the damn stuff and it smothered all my seedlings as it was so difficult o weed out. I usually buy all old garden tools from the car booot sale (like a bit of history to them) but hubby bought me a speed hoe. It's a heart shape sharp blade best used in drier conditions. IT'S Fantastic!! makes very short work of weeds.

[The plastic makers]

Not a bad idea of newspaper and cardboard, but we discuss here about fabric and plastic. i go with fabric it's better rather than plastic.

[Appsy]

Hi guys,

Thought I'd just chip in with a little bit of my experience. On my plot I used to use B&Q's landscape fabric but it broke up really quickly under foot when I was working on my patch. I bought a load in bulk so really felt obliged to use the lot. I complained to them but they just ignored me! I think it's just the world we live in now.

I've also tried polythene, but the problem is my allotment flooded and I lost a years worth of crops. That was a real down year.

I gave up for a long time and weeded by hand until my friend Peter told me that he uses woven geotextile and I ended getting something like this. Been using it for a couple of years now and it does a pretty good job. After the luck I had I thought it was going to be another waste of time. I know other members have said this sort of thing. Just adding an extra voice.

Alan

[snakeshack]

I use the woven stuff and find it very effective


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