Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Sep 06, 2011 10:44 pm Ive heard a lot of negative feedback on weed mat so Im wondering who out there has used it and what you think? Ive just planted a hedge along side our driveway and put weed mat down for that. Im just waiting to hear back from Fu on something plant related before I continue with another section, being a space between our driveway and path that varies from 40cm to 90cm for a length of about 4m. But I was wondering if I should put weed mat down here too? Why did I put weed mat down? Because I dont like weeds! But I dont know whether what I did was a good move or not, what the actual negative consequences are other than people saying its a waste of time as weeds still come through etc Any used it with good experiences?? Custom European Cabinets - Melbourne Kitchen Specialist PM for business details as website currently being updated! Our Crazy Owner Builder Journey! Re: Who has used weed mat? 3Sep 06, 2011 11:13 pm deb17 We use roundup works every time, never killed a plant with it. I check my hedge every day for signs of death because Im paranoid about the weedmat - imagine if I used roundup! Mind you, I sprayed roundup in the soil before laying the weedmat, perhaps about two weeks before planting and it did cross my mind that my plants may die because of it I dont even know what a sign of early death would be Can you tell Ive never had my *own* garden? Im so paranoid! Custom European Cabinets - Melbourne Kitchen Specialist PM for business details as website currently being updated! Our Crazy Owner Builder Journey! Re: Who has used weed mat? 4Sep 06, 2011 11:50 pm For plants (IMO), its a waste of time - as you said the weeds still get through! Or if they germinate on top of the weedmat, they send there roots down for water and through the mat making it a real pain to get out without pulling the mat out etc. If you are covering an area with pebbles then i think that weed mat is an effective tool. You are better off making sure the soil is healthy and well mulched - a good mulch layer is as effective or more effective than weed mat. You can even dig some soil out, lay down newspaper, cover with soil and mulch over that. That should stiffle 99% of weeds. Re: Who has used weed mat? 5Sep 07, 2011 7:34 am Huggy_B If you are covering an area with pebbles then i think that weed mat is an effective tool. IMO this should be the only time you use weed mat. Re: Who has used weed mat? 6Sep 07, 2011 11:42 am Bam deb17 We use roundup works every time, never killed a plant with it. I check my hedge every day for signs of death because Im paranoid about the weedmat - imagine if I used roundup! Mind you, I sprayed roundup in the soil before laying the weedmat, perhaps about two weeks before planting and it did cross my mind that my plants may die because of it I dont even know what a sign of early death would be Can you tell Ive never had my *own* garden? Im so paranoid! honestly we have never lost a plant, my x hubbi used to work at Monsanto, the chemical plant. He used to bring home loads of it, actually we had a friend that used it on a certain plant, it thrived Re: Who has used weed mat? 7Sep 07, 2011 12:39 pm I used it and pulled it all out 18 months later. It doesn't work as soon as you put mulch on top. The mulch breaks down and collects other organic matter which creates soil on top of the mat which weed seeds germinate in. Remember the plants will grow and fill in leaving less exposed mulch for weeds to grow in. As the plants become the focus, not the mulch, your weeding will drop dramatically. On a side note, If a homeowner wants to stuff yuccas in pebble topped weed mat go for it. In a few years time when they are sick of looking at the same plants, that don't create any interest over the different seasons (eg flowers, leaf colour) they will have the fun job of tearing it all out. Re: Who has used weed mat? 8Sep 07, 2011 4:20 pm Im pulling out all the weed mat even the ones under the pebbles. I figure that i can easily kill off the weeds and theyll just go back into the soil below the pebbles... Thats my theory anyways... It better work as im getting threatened from the other half that if we get weeds everywhere in the pebbles im going to get a lump of weed mat wrapped round my scrawney neck...charming.. Re: Who has used weed mat? 9Sep 07, 2011 6:50 pm I have a stand of palm trees in my front yard, that have weed mat and large river stones. They were there when we bought the house. However I do not have weeedmat in my other garden beds as I have heard it can sour the soil Re: Who has used weed mat? 10Sep 07, 2011 9:18 pm Huggy_B For plants (IMO), its a waste of time - as you said the weeds still get through! Or if they germinate on top of the weedmat, they send there roots down for water and through the mat making it a real pain to get out without pulling the mat out etc. If you are covering an area with pebbles then i think that weed mat is an effective tool. You are better off making sure the soil is healthy and well mulched - a good mulch layer is as effective or more effective than weed mat. You can even dig some soil out, lay down newspaper, cover with soil and mulch over that. That should stiffle 99% of weeds. Ive read about the newspaper - would you be able to shed some light on this? Is it more beneficial as it eventually decomposes? Which would than make it a temporary/short term solution? KnockItDown Huggy_B If you are covering an area with pebbles then i think that weed mat is an effective tool. IMO this should be the only time you use weed mat. Had a thought today - we have an under-deck water tank, would I be able to put weedmat around it to stop growth? We've had some ugly stalky things grwoing that Ive sprayed, but not exactly sure how Im supposed to keep killing them when the deck is built? deb17 :lol: honestly we have never lost a plant, my x hubbi used to work at Monsanto, the chemical plant. He used to bring home loads of it, actually we had a friend that used it on a certain plant, it thrived How close have you sprayed to a plant?? BeatrixKiddo I used it and pulled it all out 18 months later. It doesn't work as soon as you put mulch on top. The mulch breaks down and collects other organic matter which creates soil on top of the mat which weed seeds germinate in. Remember the plants will grow and fill in leaving less exposed mulch for weeds to grow in. As the plants become the focus, not the mulch, your weeding will drop dramatically. On a side note, If a homeowner wants to stuff yuccas in pebble topped weed mat go for it. In a few years time when they are sick of looking at the same plants, that don't create any interest over the different seasons (eg flowers, leaf colour) they will have the fun job of tearing it all out. The area that Ive put weedmat down at the moment is a pebbled section, with a row of dusky bells closest to the drive. So as long as I never plan on re-planting, that section should be alright? jzell67 Thats my theory anyways... It better work as im getting threatened from the other half that if we get weeds everywhere in the pebbles im going to get a lump of weed mat wrapped round my scrawney neck...charming.. I hope for your sake your theory is accurate! kiwichick I have a stand of palm trees in my front yard, that have weed mat and large river stones. They were there when we bought the house. However I do not have weeedmat in my other garden beds as I have heard it can sour the soil Any difference between the area which has it and the areas that dont? Custom European Cabinets - Melbourne Kitchen Specialist PM for business details as website currently being updated! Our Crazy Owner Builder Journey! Re: Who has used weed mat? 11Sep 08, 2011 9:02 am We had weedmat at our old house and it was a pain in the rear. It didn't really stop the weeds and just caused trouble trying to plant something or weeding out the many weeds that came through. A couple of gardens we used a really thick (say 15 - 20 sheets) layer of newspaper with all the edges overlapped. Worked so much better. Re: Who has used weed mat? 12Sep 08, 2011 9:49 am Hey Bam, you will still have the same problem with organic matter building up on top the mat in the pebbles. You will have to vacuum it regularly. Also its not as if you can't plant there ever again its just a pain in the bum tearing it all up. The main problem I had was water penetration through the mat, water just rolls off the mat and the soil underneath doesn't get wet. This turns the soil very water repellent over time and gets harder and harder to re-wet. It is not a problem over the last 1.5 years since the drought broke but previously when we had dry times it was a big issue. Also its hard to get nutrients through the mat and you have to continually keep cutting open the planting hole in the mat as the plant grows. It's way easier to just use a think layer of mulch or if you must have some sort of matting just use wet news papers under the mulch which will break down. You will want to change your garden around as it evolves (eg. stuff dies, don't like it anymore, to big, too much maintainence etc.) and the soil under weed matting will become pretty ordinary and make that job much more difficult. Re: Who has used weed mat? 13Sep 08, 2011 11:16 am Bam Ive read about the newspaper - would you be able to shed some light on this? Is it more beneficial as it eventually decomposes? Which would than make it a temporary/short term solution? Yep, the mulch and newspaper will decompose together and when you top up your mulch, add more newspaper. I lay it down maybe 6 sheets thick, wet it down and cover with mulch. Overlap the newspaper so that there is no light penetration and go right up the plant stem - it will basically smother the weed(s) to death and they will become part of the organic matter of the soil. Short of pulling them out by hand, this is the IMO the method of organic weed control.... Re: Who has used weed mat? 14Sep 08, 2011 4:35 pm We have sprayed very close to the plant, you cant beat roundup, it's the best. We had an all pebble garden in Mill Park, it was like that when we bought it, never watered it, sprayed round up and the garden thrived. We have an all pebble garden again at our new home and will do the same. Years ago, we laid the black plastic down, that was along time ago, everyone is time short for weeding gardens, the roundup just makes them disappear. Re: Who has used weed mat? 15Sep 11, 2011 5:47 pm The palm trees cause a large area of shade over the area of the weedmat. They are quite healthy. I have minimal weeds probably partly due to shade as well. the rest of the garden I try to keep healthy with garden compost dug in each year. I have groundcover plants in the sunny garden beds and plants growing closely together to allow minimal weeds. I do have a problem with oxalis which drives me a little crazy. I try to dig down and get all the tubers, but it is an ongoing battle. Re: Who has used weed mat? 16Sep 14, 2011 11:04 pm What is weed mat even for? Well its so commercial nurseries have a cheap easy method of covering exposed soil on a massive scale to reduce (not stop) weeds. As soon as anything goes on top of the matting, mulch, soil, gravel, that is what weeds grow in. Even where these materials are used and are constantly exposed to moisture, weeds grow in it wonderfully. Weed mat stops the healthy transfer of air and nutrients from the surface to the subsoil. It is also an impermeable barrier for the unbelievable amounts of critters essential for soil health (and that is critical for plant health). Worms are just one example. The stuff is not going to stop weeds, it will stuff up soil health, it will make gardening harder than needed, it will make it more expensive than needed and make a garden use more water than needed. Just because you guys can buy it doesn't mean its a great thing to spend your hard earned on no matter how cheap it is. What sells the stuff more than anything is the "weed mat". "Oh all my problems are solved." wrong.. all your problems just started. Getting good results? Well just imagine how much better things would be with out it!!! Weed mat in gardens = face palm, your doing it wrong. Re: Who has used weed mat? 18Sep 14, 2011 11:16 pm We humans come up with bizarre things don't we. You want to have less weeds? Of course, but weeds don't come from deep in the soil to destroy your garden. They just don't. They come from seeds long dormant in soils that get scratched when we dig around in the garden. The scratches let in water and the seed germinates. These seeds blow in on the wind and nestle into a tiny little gap in the surface. They just don't have the stored energy to push through from deep in the soil. Well if you have weed seeds the size of footballs they might. Stop weeds by 1. Having good soil prep. zeolite, perlite, spongolite and in sandy soils, bentonite clay. 2. Lots of certified organic compost. 3. Don't use poo, especially your own!!!!!! (well if you do make sure its weed free but not via sterilisation) 4. Mulch mulch mulch. Mulches are what will stop weeds and not all mulches are good to use. Many will make some claims on the bags and you say "oh it must be good". Or "oh my, this makes my garden look pretty" Mulches must be raw. That means they have not yet broken down at all. Straws and pine bark. They must be organic. This is because mulches are not for saving water or stopping weeds but for the creation of new soil. Soils are consumed by micro-organisms and then the plants use what they make. Use weed mat and that entire basic system the whole worlds plants work on is stuffed. Mulches of the right types just so happen to conserve water loss from soils and reduce weeds. Re: Who has used weed mat? 19Sep 14, 2011 11:22 pm As for the news paper and cardboard, yes they eventually break down but in the mean time also form a barrier between the soil and the air and that stops all the right things moving around as intended. Also weedmat and papers might be poorous but when used in the garden on soils to suppress weeds water flows not through it but along it. It takes an enormous amount more water to penetrate the barrier. The water for the most part is carried away from the intended area. Nutrients are also carried away in the water. However if you were to shred the paper/cardboard and add it through the soils structure, it does some wonderful things (adding the soil amendments also is critical) Hi all, has anyone been ask to do the weeds in their property while in the middle of build? We are under the impression that they are in control of the site while they… 0 2811 As title suggests, looking at using the interlocking Pentablock stacked stone products to replace failing timber retaining… 0 17893 there is only 20% difference in concrete strength between 20 mpa and 25 mpa, so check with your engineer first if it fits his calculation tolerances. There are ways to… 6 18309 |