I did the weed barrier and hated it. The weeds did not grow from under
it, but after a while a tremendous number sprouted in the decomposing
mulch above it and sent really tenacious roots right through it. You
have the same problem with weeds growing in mulch above plastic,
especially as the plastic degrades and becomes brittle and cracked with
time. I personally prefer a very heavy layer of newspaper with a couple
inches of mulch or bark on top of it. This works quite well at
suppressing weeds and grass for the summer and when it turns into
compost all you need to do is rake it all up and put it in your garden.
Then redo the newspaper and mulch. I live in SW Ohio so it lasted the
summer and I did not have to worry about it till the next spring. In
So. California you might have to do it a couple of times a year. Then
again if you want to spend some money, you could do what I finally did
and put in pavers. They work wonderfully well and if you figure in how
long they last versus what it costs, it is not that expensive per year.
I still have to deal with the occassional weed sprouting between the
pavers, but it is a very minor problem.

Linda
Charles Minus wrote:
I would appreciate any comments on this plan to

control weeds around my raised beds.

I live in So. California and have raised beds in my

garden. I have waged a constant and losing battle

with crab grass growing in the areas between the

beds. I don't want to use chemicals and get sick

and tired of pulling the damn stuff, it is very

tough and hard to pull.

At one point I covered the entire area with

plywood. That worked well, and looked nice, for a

couple of years until the plywood started to

deteriorate and compost into the ground. The grass

grew right through it.

So here's my plan. I am going to cut the grass down as short as I can
get it, then cover it with heavy duty plastic, like painters' tarpaulin,
and then cover that with about three inches of bark chips.


I am sure this will work in the short run. But,

will it work in the long run? One thinkg I am

concerned about is water collecting on top of the

plastic. So I intend to puncture the plastic in

many places using a pitch fork to allow drainage.

What do you think? Is there something I am not taking into consideration
here? Will this last? Thanks for your attention.

Minus