Weed control

[giantsridge]

We are landscaping some very large areas of lawn, trying to remove the grass and replace it with gardens, shrubs and mulched pathways. We have already used a sod cutter to remove the existing turf, and were planning to install edging material, landscape cloth, then cover with mulch/plants. In the past, my efforts at weed control have not been successful for more than a couple years, but I have never tried the sod cutting approach before now...I am wondering if this approach is going to keep the weeds from reappearing, or is there a better method we should be considering?

 

[S Mc]

Weed management is an ongoing issue, basically no matter how you go about it.

I love the image created by your description of your project and feel that the cutting of the sod will remove a great deal of the roots. But barring sterilization of the environment, you won't prevent all growth from returning. Nor would you want to in a garden setting.

Sylvia

 

[giantsridge]

Weed management is an ongoing issue, basically no matter how you go about it.

So if we go forward with the current plan- lay down landscape fabric and cover with mulch, what do we do when the weeds start penetrating through the mulch in a season or two? It seems we'd be left with a fine mess and I don't want to pull it all up and start over every couple of years!

Thanks for the input.
shawn

 

[S Mc]

Shawn, I am reminded here that the term "mulch" has many descriptions. Since I use organic, whole tree chips as mulch, I tend to visualize that in a discussion. What material are you going to be using?

If you are using a non-organic top dressing, such as rocks, then I would use a high-quality geotextile. The combination will have the longest life expectancy for detering weeds.

If you are using an organic mulch and you are getting weeds coming up soon, I am thinking this is by weed seed germination on the surface. These are very easy to hand pull.

Organic mulch will break down, as it is suppose to, and then becomes a growing medium. This has its pros and cons depending on what it's intended use. If in a pathway, this might be higher maintenance than desired. Again, the higher-quality geotextiles will last longer. Frankly, I have not been satisfied with using a geotextile in this situation (with organic mulch) because at some point in time it wears out and needs to be replaced and is a royal pain in the behind.

Sylvia

 

[giantsridge]

Shawn, I am reminded here that the term "mulch" has many descriptions. Since I use organic, whole tree chips as mulch, I tend to visualize that in a discussion. What material are you going to be using?

We are using "organic" mulch as you describe- whole tree chips, mostly pine. In our previous experiments, I have laid down the fabric over weeds without first killing the weeds- that resulted in them poking through the fabric and mulch very quickly. However, even when I have removed all the weeds and their roots, they seem to come back within a season or two. As we are hoping to do larger areas in the near future, I dread the thought of the 'weed control' issues we may be facing soon!

I'm sure there are a variety of chemical killers available, but we don't want to use anything like this on our property.

Thanks for any help you can offer!
Shawn

 

[southsoundtree]

overlap is important

important to overlap a significant amount. You could even Z-fold the overlap for the greatest protection (picture your two hands with fingers tip-to-tip, pointing opposite directions, palms facing opposite ways, slide fingers to overlap 2", curl fingers, pin with stakes--the fabric, not your hands.

The overlap is usually the downfall, then pulling weeds coming through will worsen the situation of the gap.

Its a little more time-consuming install than just overlapping 6" but I suspect it will work better.

disclaimer: this has been an armchair overlap idea never tested except in my brain. No weeds were harmed in the forming of this idea.

 

[S Mc]

Shawn, what weed fabric were you using? The weeds shouldn't be able to come through that fast. I have two areas here at my property that are covered in geotextile. One is then covered in mulch (a raised-bed vegetable garden), the other is top dressed with crusher fine and sand for my riding arena. These both have been down for 10 years. The only places I got weeds growing through were as SST described...in seams. I have gotten weeds growing on top of the geotextile as the top dressing product broke down enough to be a growing medium for blown in seeds.

A side note: I must confess that I would not opt again for the geotextile if this area is to have plants. I inadvertently performed a 10 year study on the soil benefits derived from mulch without geotexile vs benefits derived from mulch with the fabric. The soil in an annex area of my garden, which houses my annuals, perennials and some trees has simply had whole tree chips added as a top dressing over the soil. The vegetable garden area had weed mat put down over its entirety, then the whole tree chips, then the raised beds (I would sweep the chips away first).

This year we pulled back a section of the weed mat to plant corn. The soil under the weed mat was the same as the dirt outside the garden area...devoid of organic matter. The soil in the annex garden is rich humus with earthworms galore.

So if you are planning on putting weed mat in areas where you will be planting, I would reconsider. The benefits of the mulch to your soil, and therefore your plants, are going to far outweigh the weed factor. To cut down on the weeds in these areas, you could put a layer of cardboard down first, then the mulch.

Pathways would be a different matter and in these areas I appreciate the extra weed barrier.

Sylvia