Agreed. Now, where's the beer?

"dps" wrote in message
...
Landscape fabric is a good light blocker, so it would work in place of the
plastic bags I suggested in an earlier post. However, it's much more
expensive than a garbage bag, although it's also much stronger. Also,
neither method will prevent the shrub from sprouting, so regularly cutting
sprouts would be essential for the non-chemical/non-big-hole method to
work. A determined shrub will grow through either plastic bags or
landscape fabric, given some time. Plants are remarkably strong --
tree roots can crack concrete sidewalks. Getting through a plastic
covering is a piece of cake, but it does take time.

The light blocker gives you time to respond to sprouting. Uncovered, the
sprout will photosynthesize food (in proportion to its surface area) as
soon as it emerges. Covered, it will not, so a week delay in cutting new
sprouts will not make the shrub last longer. You just have to be sure to
get the sprouts before the covering tears.




Doug Kanter wrote:
Long winded idea:
I was at a garden center last week, inquiring about landscape fabric for
a small area under the eaves of my house where rain rarely reaches, and
nothing grows but weeds that like desert conditions. I don't have time to
research & plant something nicer until September. The store owner said
"If you're gonna put mulch on top of the fabric, use this kind. If
stones, you want this stuff - it's practically impossible to damage".

So...the OP might want to consider some high quality landscape fabric,
too, even if he uses it to make some sort of wrap over the stumps, as
opposed to laying it flat. It would be far more durable than plastic.