"Salty Thumb" wrote in message
...

Here are the previous times I have babbled about landscape fabric:


http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e...dm=be1qe0%24e9
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241%40plonk.apk.net

[Message start]

Salty, have you personally *used* landscape fabric and had the desired
results, or did you just see it on TV? Landscape fabric is from hell.
Tree feeder roots grow up through it. Turfgrass encroaches over the
edges and then sends roots down through it. Weeds will germinate in
whatever covers it, and eventually send roots down through it also
unless you pull them promptly. When you change your mind and decide
to
yank out the fabric a year or two later, it will be stuck fast by
several inches of decomposed mulch/grass/weed gunk and a million
infinitesimal feeder roots occupying every individual pore in the
fabric, forcing you to dig it out.

This has been my personal experience, plus the local gardening
columnists and extension agents agree with me, as well as a lot
of people in this newsgroup.

- Alex

[Message end]

I'm more with Alex. g

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[Message start]

From: Salty Thumb

I can live with the onion thingies, so I still stand by my
recommendation.
People who can garden their way out of bank vault probably won't want
to
use landscape fabric, but if you're an average lazy guy, it's good
stuff.

[Message end]

For those really lazy guy, that neglect a corner of garden and let
small bush or tree grow on top of the landscape fabric, I can't
imagine how they will going to separate the landscape fabric from the
mulch(humus) on top, soil below, and plant in between. g

I don't think it is a matter of what is 'correct' but what is the
best
solution to a given problem.

I'm agree with you that there is no single way for every situation.

But 'correct' here I'm refer to the claim are true to the fact.

I'm also not an expert to say for sure, but
for your operation, extensive mulch seems a better idea, and more
practical.

This still need another few years to test it out when some new need
come in. Maybe by the time another alternative fit better than mulch.
I'm also looking at live mulch(ground cover) now.

I don't generate enough vegetation to be able to supply
myself with mulch or significant amounts of compost, so I use
newspaper
or fabric.

I test out that Perennial peanut(Arachis) work well as live mulch
here.

It grow low, can grow under shading, not appear to compete with crop
plant, do suppress weed germinate from seed, decaying dead root do
provide organic matter and nutrient. It make available by exchange
carbon for N and P with bacterial(N) and fungus(P).

Weed that grow through the live mulch can be weeded by handheld string
trimmer or sickle.

Additionally, were I to add amendments, I find sliding large pine
bark
nuggets aside and lifting the fabric (feeder roots smeeder roots) an
easier procedure than raking aside mulch that is possibly conmingled
with
newspaper and soil debris.

I don't see the need to raking aside mulch, I will just top dressing
the amendments.

If I were to use short term mulch (i.e. not
as long lasting as large pine bark nuggets), newspaper might be a
better
idea, as I could just mix everything together and enrich the soil
structure by doing so.

As long as you don't over mulch, the mulch will find it way to soil by
critter live in it.

Having reviewed some of the older messages about landscape fabric,
if
you're going to grow vegetation that will eventually spred over a
flower
bed (making removal of landscape fabric more difficult), it really
doesn't make sense to use long term weed suppression, as once
established, theoretically, the vegetation should be effective in
limiting weed growth to acceptable levels. Certainly in this case
you
would want to use something that degrades, replacing as necessary
until
the relevant plant is established and doing its own weed control,

I think people call this vegetation as ground cover or live mulch
depend on situation.

the
exception being if said vegetation will die back in the winter, in
which
case you can plan your amending accordingly and/or resign yourself
to
using short term suppression or other methods.

I will suggest using plant debris for supplement in this situation.

Regards,
Wong

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