Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Dec 16, 2008 11:50 am Today's Lazy Gardener Question: Instead of digging up the layer of straggly grass and weeds, and THEN laying a weedmat & gravel, can I just put the weedmat directly on top ?
Will the weedmat and gravel be enough to kill the weeds underneath ? Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves. - Dale Carnegie Re: Today's Lazy Gardener Question 2Dec 16, 2008 2:22 pm if they are invasive weeds like couch etc then the weed mat wont kill them. best to spray with a natural weed killer, get the bulk of the weeds out after a week or two when they have died and then rotary hoe in mushroom compost etc then weed mat and pebbles. over time though most tight knit weed mats kill the soil ie: no nutrients can get into soil thru plant waste decomposition and water ingress can also be a problem.
I never install weed mat in my clients gardens. As a general rule as part of the landscape package a weed wand etc is provided and education for weed management is provided. but some people swear by weed mat so you have to make your own decision Da Vinci Outdoor Living Architectural landscaping http://www.davincioutdoor.com Re: Today's Lazy Gardener Question 3Dec 16, 2008 4:25 pm Cabinfever Today's Lazy Gardener Question: Instead of digging up the layer of straggly grass and weeds, and THEN laying a weedmat & gravel, can I just put the weedmat directly on top ? Will the weedmat and gravel be enough to kill the weeds underneath ? I have to agree with Da Vinci--in our experience we've had couch grass come right through weedmat (and tear it to shreds in several places). And getting anything to grow in soil that's had weedmat on it is pretty tough. In my experience, what works is using a weedkiller (natural or not), being vigilant about continuing to use that weedkiller over the following weeks to kill whatever you don't want, then digging it all out (or in), and then dumping 10-15cm of mulch over the top. The more mulch, the better. Everything I know, I learned from SBS. LATEST: Frame Complete http://metricon-mercer.livejournal.com Re: Today's Lazy Gardener Question 4Dec 16, 2008 4:33 pm Eh - I attempted something similar on the weekend. Rather than weed my garden bed THEN mulch I figured I'd just put the mulch over the top.
THe end result wasn't that great - it was all bulky with weeds sticking through around the edges. It also ended up needing twice as much mulch so I could only do half of the garden bed. I think I'm just going to have to weed for the rest of the bed Kudos for the attempt at "human energy conservation" though Building Upside down house in Wantirna VIC Current Stage: Procrastination... it's just all too hard.... Blog: http://thereluctantbuilder.blogspot.com/ Re: Today's Lazy Gardener Question 5Dec 16, 2008 11:07 pm The other half has saved all this cardboard to put down in garden (when we finally get around to doing the garden out the front..) I am keen to see how that will turn out... First time home owner and first time renovator... Re: Today's Lazy Gardener Question 6Dec 16, 2008 11:16 pm I do have this big pile of boxes waiting for space in the recycling bin. Maybe I could put that down first, then then weedmat, then the gravel ? But it sounds a bit messy to really work Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves. - Dale Carnegie Re: Today's Lazy Gardener Question 8Dec 16, 2008 11:24 pm On the ABC's Gardening Australia they did this with black plastic. They put it on for 2 weeks and when they took it off all the weeds were dead. Then put your weed mat over...
I could not find that article on the ABC but I found a similar one... here... http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s2431665.htm Ed "ECOECO" At 'EcoEco', we design windows, we design the best windows, we do it for you, so that when you’re happy we are happy. Tel. 1800 326 326 Re: Today's Lazy Gardener Question 9Dec 17, 2008 8:29 am I thought it interesting that weedmats kill the soil underneath. But I suppose it'd be exactly the same if you paved or concreted the area as well ? So in that respect it's a 'little' less drastic than that. Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves. - Dale Carnegie Re: Today's Lazy Gardener Question 10Dec 17, 2008 8:59 am Oooh I like the cardboard idea, I'll try it this weekend (anything to avoid weeding). Building Upside down house in Wantirna VIC Current Stage: Procrastination... it's just all too hard.... Blog: http://thereluctantbuilder.blogspot.com/ Re: Today's Lazy Gardener Question 11Dec 18, 2008 6:12 pm I also agree with Davinci. Weed mat was developed for use in commercial nurseries as a floor covering that was cheaper than blue metal/ gravel.
What isn't understood by most is that once anything is put on top of it or soil builds up in corners of shade houses then weeds will grow in it. weeds generally don't come from underneath. they are shallow rooted and germinate in the surface layer after being blow in by the wind more often than not. couch grasses will be the exception where they will grow up through the weed mat. Great for use under gravel paths etc. but not cool when years later you just want to plant a something in there and that bloody weed mat makes it a pain in the bum job, not to mention all the weeds you see growing in the gravel and mulch above it Too many people are sucked into buying this stuff. great advice as always davinci Re: Today's Lazy Gardener Question 12Dec 18, 2008 6:51 pm I ripped up some weedmat that is only about two or three months old. There were lots of bugs and slugs underneath !
I've dug out all the grass and weeds from the area in question (about 15m x 4m with a few plants & trees) and am now considering just laying the gravel directly on top of the bare soil. What do you think ? Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves. - Dale Carnegie Re: Today's Lazy Gardener Question 13Dec 18, 2008 7:17 pm Cabinfever I ripped up some weedmat that is only about two or three months old. There were lots of bugs and slugs underneath ! I've dug out all the grass and weeds from the area in question (about 15m x 4m with a few plants & trees) and am now considering just laying the gravel directly on top of the bare soil. What do you think ? Great idea - over time it will save you going to the gym and the gym subscription. Ed "ECOECO" At 'EcoEco', we design windows, we design the best windows, we do it for you, so that when you’re happy we are happy. Tel. 1800 326 326 Re: Today's Lazy Gardener Question 14Dec 18, 2008 7:57 pm That must be one vote for: "Bare soil + gravel = rotten idea" Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves. - Dale Carnegie Re: Today's Lazy Gardener Question 15Dec 18, 2008 9:23 pm yep use it under the gravel but don't expect it to stop weeds. It will be a cheap way to stop the gravel from working into the soil though. Re: Today's Lazy Gardener Question 16Dec 18, 2008 9:50 pm Fu Manchu yep use it under the gravel but don't expect it to stop weeds. It will be a cheap way to stop the gravel from working into the soil though. We have about 50 m2 of gravel on weedmat - been there for about 5 yrs. It works fine - any weeds that grow (hardly any), simply lift out no effort. Ed "ECOECO" At 'EcoEco', we design windows, we design the best windows, we do it for you, so that when you’re happy we are happy. Tel. 1800 326 326 Re: Today's Lazy Gardener Question 18Dec 30, 2008 11:31 am use weed mat, it is cheaper than black plastic and a little more durable. for paths it is a good thing. as eco said ,when the weed seeds germinate in the gravel the roots are not strong. they lift out easy. You can really use anything you want the main consideration would be how it looks once painted/finished - or the look you want. Cabinetmakers use MDF because its cheap… 2 9980 I would say both styles you have pictured are steel. The lower chord of the first pic would be a massive lump if made using timber considering the size of the rafters. If… 1 6157 1 13128 |