On Tue, 07 Mar 2006 19:13:11 -0800, persephone wrote:

I bought some because a landscaper relative said it was better than
plastic - kept weeds down but didn't block flow of water to soil.

Had a yard party - several friends came over and redid a rose bed - took
out the weeds and dirt, smoothed down area, installed landscape cloth,
re-covered with dirt. Looks gorgeous!

Comes my gardener and says that this doesn't work. Weeds come up anyway,
and are harder to pull out because stuck in the cloth.

Oy!

Any wisdom out there?

Persephone


I would agree with your gardener. I find weed cloth to be more work than
it's worth. Many folks use it under mulch, ground tree bark or wood chips
which seems to defeat the purpose IMHO. I recommend using weed fabric
under rock or paver slabs but never for any area that will have organic
matter piled on top of it seasonally.

Common sense would dictate that over time the weed fabric would get buried
deeper and deeper. The fabric has become useless at weed control and
now could hinder root development of other trees and shrubs. These roots
will have a harder fight to 'rise' in the flower bed as the mulch
accumulates.

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