Cutting through buried landscape fabric
13 years ago
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Comments (13)
- 13 years ago
- 13 years ago
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Any tricks for direct seeding rows into landscape fabric mulches?
Comments (1)Easiest it to use the fabric to edge the planting row (1 piece on one side, another on the other side of the planting space) rather than cover over it. But otherwise you have to take scissors and cut out an inch to 1 1/2" (depending on the plant) wide channel down the length of the area and plant in it. When you do it that way you have to use the fabric staples or weight down the cut edges. Dave...See MoreLandscape Fabric
Comments (9)My raised beds were built following ideas for lasagna gardening. The vegetables beds were built on old sod with all the grass varieties and weeds common to New England farms such as garden sorrel and a nasty creeping plant. Starting off with layers of wet newspaper, grass clippings, chopped leaves, etc and topped with a good aged composted horse manure (the horse owner adds wood ashes and kitchen scraps during the winter and turns the pile). Year one is great. But then the weeds slowly encroach. This year I put down black plastic for a few weeks before I planted. This killed the weeds and made removal easier. But, keep in mind, the bed wasn't terribly weedy, just around the edges. Originally my intention was simply to warm up the soil. Last fall I planted garlic in a 2 year old well weeded bed. This year part of the bed is covered with fresh grass clippings. What weeds start up are easy to pull. I think the secret is starting with essentially weed free beds. Those layers of grass and old leaves were probably weed free. I don't think I will ever till up a garden bed again. My first bed built in 2008 has sunk down to the level of the grass. I will probably build that bed up again with more leaves, etc. The spinach I planted this year did ok but the same seed packet planted in another bed with a new application of composted horse manure is much bigger and better. I really don't like the weed infiltration from the grassy walkways. My husband keeps them well mowed but the weeds that grow with runners keep creeping in. I changed a bed shape and needed to add some narrow paths this year. The wet newspapers topped with grass clippings help keep the weeds down. You didn't mention whether you have your beds just hilled up like mine or edged with boards. If your beds are already built then I would put down black plastic for a month or so before planting the garlic. But remove the black plastic before planting....See MoreStrong, biodegradable alternative to landscape fabric?
Comments (2)Putting down any landscape fabric, they are all made of nylon a product that does not ever get digested, would not be a good idea, and covering it with something called "topsoil" would not be anything better. "Topsoil" by definition is just the top 4 inches of any soil and unless you know what you want purchasing "topsoil" is more like buying a "pig in a poke" than most people realize, but most of the time is a waste of your money. As long as the plant you want to get rid of is deprived of access to sunlight, long enough, that plant will die. Some plants roots store enough energy to grow back quite some time after the top growth is killed off, but cardboard or newspaper will work just as well as some expensive landscape fabric, and both the newspaper and cardboard will contribute some organic matter to your soil something which the landscape fabric will not....See MoreLandscaping fabric without mulch?
Comments (7)Torching the weeds isn't an option due to local ordinances, plus from what I understand, burning poison ivy is a bad idea. The landscape fabric I mentioned here is actually gray, not black, so it should generate somewhat less heat. And there won't be any wanted plants in the vicinity, so I'm not really worried about that, nor am I especially worried about the appearance -- plain gray landscape fabric probably won't look amazing, but it already doesn't look amazing since it's just a weed-overgrown hill. The problem that I had in mind, but no one has brought up, is the efficacy of the landscape fabric for actually killing the weeds or preventing their growth. Would landscape fabric accomplish that with no mulch on top? Or would the weeds just grow straight through it?...See More- 13 years ago
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