Topic: Cardboard underlay or not?

[Ed^Chigliak]

I am about to lay some heavy duty mylex woven plastic on my allotment to make paths between raised beds. Do you think walking on the paths after a period of wet weather will cause mud to permeate up through the weave to the surface. Should I lay cardboard under the mylex sheet or will this just make surface water puddle and instead of draining away. I am also considering covering with wood bark/chips at a later date although I don't want to create too many slug & snail hidding places. Currently my paths are bare soil and in wet weather they turn into the sticky type of mud and I often end up 6" taller than normal.

Thanks in advance

Giant Ed^ (with the mud platform shoes)

[kenkew]

Never used it, Ed, but my guess is if your ground is claggy then 'yes' the mud will be squeezed through any perforation. I wonder if you'd be better off getting the whole of that area ready for planting out and when the weather gets a bit fairer, create your beds and lay your plastic path then. The mulch/compost you use on the garden would also help with the clay problem on the paths. If the beds are already in position then why not try bark under the plastic? I sometimes use old carpet for pathways but I only put it down after my ground has firmed up a bit.