Topic: How do you hold down weed control membrane?

[miketaylor]

Hi - perhaps I'm being a bit thick again - but how do you hold down weed control membrane? I've just laid 20 metres of the stuff between the raised beds that I built, but at the moment I've got half bricks pinning it to the ground. Are there any pins you can buy to hold it to the earth? It looks like one good strong wind will carry it all away. Any help from the team here would be most welcome. I intend to cover it with bark chippings but they aren't very heavy... 

[Derekthefox]

I would be inclined to tuck the edges under the soil, I have done this with other sheeting materials and it seems to work ...

Derekthefox :D

[Jesse]

You can buy pegs to hold it down, I think these people do them. I use bricks and old concrete slabs, if I run out I use a layer of soil around the edges, not the tidiest way but it works. I'm not sure how well the pegs would work at a windy allotment like ours.

[wardy]

My sheeting has just blown off for the second time so I need to get more pegs!

I got some from the internet - from the Garden Superstore - 21 p each.  They look better than weighing it down with bricks, water-filled bottles, sand bags, wheelbarrow, pallets etc as mine is.  Looks a right mess.  The spikes are more efficient and don't look  a mess  :)

You could make your own but if you look at the ones on the above site it will give you a good idea what to do.  When you put them in don't bang em in hard with your foot or they go out of shape  :)

[miketaylor]

Thanks team. Exactly what i was looking for. Although having now had a browse around I've also spent another 20 quid on must have stuff... ho hum...

[MaryM]

Our local wood recycling company in Brighton gives allmonteers free pallets and I use these for holding down the membrane

[wardy]

I've put some one mine but they don't look very smart  ;D  Mind you once all the weeds are dead then the black plastic all over the place will be a thing of the past.  I hope  :)

[vee]

I use the wire coathangers you get from the dry cleaners and make them into very long u-shaped pins with a pair of pliers. One coathanger makes a few. I have only done this where I have put bark chippings on top but it has worked very well so far and costs nothing.  None of my fabric has come up again so far. I have seen plastic pegs at the garden centre but they are quite expensive.

[Derekthefox]

I think we are all living in hope Wardy, I certainly am ...

Derekthefox :D

[BAGGY]

They replaced the chain-link fence roundour lotty and i 'found' some of the wire so bent that into u shapes and that works well too.

[miketaylor]

coathangers or "borrowed" wire - brilliant ideas. I can see exactly how that would work. 10/10. Thanks.

[wardy]

I bought some but then realised the cheapo dry cleaner wire coathangers would work well so have been scrounging round the charity shops  :)

[John_H]

I use a mixture of tent pegs, bricks, knitting needles from charity shops, heating bricks from old night storage heaters and supermarket carrier bags full of soil and soya milk boxes re-filled with water.

[wardy]

You don't care what yer lotty looks like either then  ;D

[Derekthefox]

Well it is a lottie Wardy, not a show garden !!!

Derekthefox :D

[jennym]

You can also buy fixing pegs from Kays:
http://www.kaysdiscountgarden.co.uk/cgi-bin/site-editor.pl/14/-search?eid=297739&pid=32782&q=fixpeg100
They do packs of 100 for £8.40, or 1000 for £59.33, but their minimum order value is £15 and delivery is £5.50.
I have bought pegs from them along with strong porous ground cover for weed control (not landscaping fabric which is flimsier) and they seem good quality.
They take orders by telephone and online.