Not a gardener at all, so bear with me...

My house has a large amount of weed infested lawn, and shrubs that need
constant attention, so in a moment of madness I decided gravelling the
whole lot would be a good idea for a low maintenance garden., can then
put plants and shrubs in pots to keep it manageable...

Anyhow, I am preparing the ground at the moment, skimming the top layer
of the grass off, and digging up roots, which is all fine, but I have a
question on what type of matting to use.

My local builders merchant has a fabric type that allows the water down,
but no weeds up,available off a 1m wide roll, or plastic type, which is
basically a total barrier to everything, but comes on 4m wide roll.

I was wondering about the pros and cons of each type. The front garden
in question is about 8m x 8m, so the 4m roll would be nice, as there is
only 1 join compared to 8 joins (and I heard comments about the joins
being a pain when raking over). So I am tempted to go this way (it's
also cheaper...) My only concern is pooling of water when it rains.
The garden is flat (as in not on a hill).

Anyone got any advice on this...

Thanks..