"Colin Williams" wrote in message
...
Can one of you educated gardeners please advise me as what weed killer I
need to buy for the following application? I am about to dig up my garden
and lay a shingle path. I have been advised to lay a membrane under the
shingle and wonder if I should apply weed killer first to stop the weeds
coming through later. Any help would be appreciated

Many thanks in advance

Colin Williams

I'm not sure what a shingle path is. Can you explain? For my own paths I have
solarized them for an entire year using clear plastic. Then I saved all our
newspapers for the year and lay those down before putting a thick layer of
leaves. Live oak leaves to be exact. They break down very slowly. Next spring
the paths will be ready for crushed and decomposed granite and weeds will be
virtually gone. In my paths I want wildlower seeds to feel free to germinate.

If you want an easy way to control weeds using landscape fabric, I say go for
it, but do not buy the inexpensive, perforated junk. Use true landscape fabric.
It looks like a finer version of roofing paper, but it has backing and is hard
for anything to penetrate. You do not need a herbicide to do this. If you
have any plants in the paths now, I would simply use a weeding blade to remove
them at the base and lay the fabric down. If you turn it over, you disturb
dormant weed seeds and make a bigger headache than if you left them in place and
just go over the stumps of weeds you cut off at the base. You can also scalp
them with the lawn mower on the lowest setting and going very slowly, raising
the deck as necessary for taller weeds. Go over that a few times with the
mower, then lay down the landscape fabric.

Victoria