Weed control matting.

[Yorkistransplant]

Hi folks, quick question to any one who is out there, we're is the cheapest place to get weed control matting? Dobies? b&q? Bargin shop. Let me know your thoughts

[Two_Sheds]

old newspapers

old cardboard (round the back of small shops is the best place to look)

[Olorin2001]

Polyfast manufactures woven weed control fabric, on the principle of "you get what you pay for" the cheapest is not always the best value.
Old newspapers are good but I don't buy new ones so never have any old ones to use.
Cardboard is good if you have a car, they don't let me on the bus with bundles of the stuff, but if you have a source very local, or are happy to walk miles with the stuff on a barrow it's dirt cheap, but doesn't last.
Polyfast do it 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 metres wide but in standard lengths - you can't order by the metre - a google search will find them.

[Two_Sheds]

Cardboard is good if you have a car

Or a bike. Does nobody cycle any more?

[Scarlet]

Or a bike. Does nobody cycle any more?

Yes, my husband, all the time! Everyone around him should love it too, for birthday or Christmas presents we all get bike related everything. Exercise bike, helmet, Brooke's saddle, although a couple of years ago he got an old tandem for us. It really is lovely and now I can keep up!

[Olorin2001]

I had a bike as a kid, then a motorbike, then various vehicles until they gave me a bus pass and owning a car was not financially viable, (244 mile between MOT's) I rent one when needed.
Using a bicycle or motorbike on today's roads, where very few other users THINK BIKE is a dangerous pastime. We need a law like they have in Holland where cyclists have the right of way and if you hit one then it's your fault.
I have a mental image of you going to Curry's and getting half a dozen boxes that fridges came in and transporting them on a bicycle for any distance.

[Vegpatchkid]

We've bought cheap stuff from the supermarkets and pound stores and it's been rubbish, it's too thin.
And as they say, you buy cheap, you pay twice.
So we bought some (more expensive) from Toolstation and it's been great. We've used it in areas that we barked over and also for paths that we've gravelled.
We used plenty of cardboard to line the bottom of our raised beds though, that worked a treat and was free.

[Dorothy rouse]

Yes, my husband, all the time! Everyone around him should love it too, for birthday or Christmas presents we all get bike related everything. Exercise bike, helmet, Brooke's saddle, although a couple of years ago he got an old tandem for us. It really is lovely and now I can keep up!

Yes,my husband uses bike a lot, his exercise, not sure how he'd feel if I asked him to collect a load of cardboard, and cycle home with it!


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[Martin H]

Luckily as a London commuter I get three free newspapers every day (Metro, City AM and Evening Standard). I've just started to cover the paths between my allotment beds, which are 15 inches wide and so the papers are ideal. Once they are all covered I'll go round it will be spring and I can start putting a second layer on...

[Bill HH]

I found the weed control matting did two things, the weeds still came up through it, but when you pulled them the roots were trapped under it so the whole mat came up.

[Olorin2001]

Sounds like you used the stuff from your local 99p shop, which is a waste of money and time.

[JamesMc86]

How do you use cardboard instead? I got some matting from pound stretcher. Think it was 2 for £10 for 1.5 x 10m but certainly looks weak! Figured it was worth a punt though.

However I do have my eye on some old bike boxes outside a near by shop. Do you just put it down and pin it down? Or if I put it under the weed control fabric will it rot down over winter and improve the soil?


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[veggiechicken]

Just lay the cardboard down on the weeds/soil. You can weight it down with pots, or branches or whatever but once it gets wet, it tends to stay put. No need to put the fabric over it as the cardboard controls the weeds.
It will rot down eventually but you don't have to remove it, unlike plastic and fabric.

[JamesMc86]

No boxes outside the shop today so I put down the cheap stuff. As expected though looks rubbish, you can see through it and considering I have some bindweed growth under the stuff that I can't see through I'm not going to hold my breath!


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[Two_Sheds]

I put down the cheap stuff. ...you can see through it

So what you've done is put down a very small greenhouse. The light gets through, and it's all warm too.

Expect a bumper crop of slugs, snails and weeds