Topic: Weed suppressant fabric

[Digeroo]

Decided I need to buy some.

I go on holiday in May and by the time I get back the weeds have really shot ahead.  Last year I was plagued by parsnips which had shot up to 5 feet high.

So decided the answer is black fabric. 

The question is what is the best width to have.  1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4 Metres.  I am thinking 2 x 50.   But may be 1m wide strips for beds with paths between would be better, so then 1x100.  The latter is slightly cheaper as it is currently on special offer.  With 1 meter I could put a strip of manure down between the rows.

LAst year I bought a roll of blue scaffolding netting, so this year it is black plastic.

Would very much welcome comments about what you do with black plastic. 

[ancellsfarmer]

Its good for the kind of job where low (no) maintenance is needed, such as amenity plantings in public places,so long as heavily mulched to hold in place ,with a non growing media such as bark chips or slate pennies.
It would be less suitable in cultivated areas because you will keep finding the edges, being unsightly and a trip hazard. If you weight down the edges with soil or manure, you will find that weeds will not only grow on and through from the top but be difficult to remove without tearing the whole mat up.
If you decide to do it, try and source the heavier type such as may be used by professional landscapers.

[Digeroo]

I am hoping to lay it just before I am away so tripping will not be a problem. 

I used to have a very organised family next to me.  They laid it down, and then gradually rolled it up, planting behind  the roll as they went.    They held it down with stones, and planks of wood.  They had two trips of 4 meters which more or less covered their plot.  Must have cost a fortune.  But it was also difficult to handle and took several people to do the rolling.   

I do not think it is any better than hoeing, it is just while I am away their will be no hoeing done and after 2.5 weeks you just cannot believe just how fast things can grown.  I do not tend to get enough time to hoe the entire plot just before I go away. 

I am starting to think that the 1 metre wide will be easier to handle.

[ACE]

The make we used when I was working was Mypex. It went under gravel paths or used in an ornamental grass garden to grow the plants through. We would also use it in the nursery beds to put all our potted plants on as they were hardening off. It was a great covering for the poly tunnel floor. Lasted us for years as it is very hard wearing. With a hose down and folded up for the winter it was ready for the next years plants.

Best to find a commercial supplier I think we used to pay something about  £80 for a 100m x 2m roll. No vat if you told them it was for edible crops.

[Buster54]

You also need to think about the thickness or GSM as its called I think the thickest is 100gms which is what I use,payed £80 for 2mtr X 100mtr,I use it for planting  brasicas - onions - broad beans and some flowers through and I cut mine with a  gas soldering iron as it helps to stop it fraying and use tent pegs and about 6"piece of 17mm plastic pipe(just what I inherited but you could use canes) to peg it down in several places

[Digeroo]

Many thanks for the info.  I have found 1x100 meters on special offer for £39.  So think I might go for that.  100 gram.  You can get 50gm cheaper but various remarks about it being like tissue paper.  Includes Vat.

https://www.weedfabricdirect.co.uk/ground-cover-fabric/1-metre-ground-cover-fabric.html

No vat if you told them it was for edible crops.

This seems odd. 

[johhnyco15]

this is my fruit plot covered in membrane then topped with bark been down 3 seasons and still asgoodas new

[ancellsfarmer]

Many thanks for the info.  I have found 1x100 meters on special offer for £39.  So think I might go for that.  100 gram.  You can get 50gm cheaper but various remarks about it being like tissue paper.  Includes Vat.

https://www.weedfabricdirect.co.uk/ground-cover-fabric/1-metre-ground-cover-fabric.html

No vat if you told them it was for edible crops.

This seems odd. 

Better to say "you dont need a ticket"..............!!!!!!,not that I would !

[ACE]

There are all sorts of reasons vat is paid especially when it comes to building alterations, which includes adding/upkeep of  a path. New build is different. If used under a path it is building works  and needs vat paid. If used for crops it is vat free. But we did have a 'friendly' supplier. I also think if used for flowers it was not exempt.

[artichoke]

Buster54: "I cut mine with a  gas soldering iron as it helps to stop it fraying".

Could you go into some more detail about the gas soldering iron? Do they come in different sizes?

I have quite a lot of mypex rolled out to suppress weeds over the winter, and am intrigued by the idea of drawing a circle on the mypex in situ, if that is how you do it?

I have a heavy iron bar I was thinking of heating up in a bonfire to stamp holes through the mypex, but your method sounds much more manageable, and I can't always be having bonfires.....

[artichoke]

PS Would a blowtorch work for making sealed holes in the mypex?

[Buster54]

PS Would a blowtorch work for making sealed holes in the mypex?

I got something similar to this about 4 years ago,just keep topping it up with gas
https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/laser-3410-gas-soldering-kit-8pc/

[artichoke]

Thanks!
Does anyone think a blowtorch such as  http://www.amazon.co.uk/GoGas-Auto-DIY-Blowtorch/dp/B0017RMJSG  would work? The reason being that I never do soldering - but if I got a blowtorch a) I think the gas cannisters would last longer for making holes in the mypex, and b) I could use it in the kitchen for browning meringues and singing the crème brûlées  I might make.....and stripping paint......etc

[Buster54]

Thanks!
Does anyone think a blowtorch such as  http://www.amazon.co.uk/GoGas-Auto-DIY-Blowtorch/dp/B0017RMJSG  would work? The reason being that I never do soldering - but if I got a blowtorch a) I think the gas cannisters would last longer for making holes in the mypex, and b) I could use it in the kitchen for browning meringues and singing the crème brûlées  I might make.....and stripping paint......etc

Personally I would use the soldering iron as there is no flame and you would have better control,I just bought mine to cut the membrane as I use the membrane for my onions and garlic,oh O don't cut a hole out I cut an X so it all folds back to the plants

[Digeroo]

I do not want to cut holes in it.  I have the idea that it upsets the worms big time and hence the soil quality as all the soil beasties disappear.  So hoping that only a metre wide and only a few weeks will not upset them too much. 

Grew potatoes though plastic once and the slugs had a field day.

[johhnyco15]

 i grow all my squash plants thru membrane and sweetcorn i just dig it over cover with well rotted manure  straw and brown grass clippings then plant tru it always works for me and no slug damage

[Jayb]

I grew my squash though membrane last year, very pleased and will be doing the same again this season.

[johhnyco15]

this years squash bed ready for action

[Digeroo]

What is the advantage of growing squash through a membrane?

[Robert_Brenchley]

It keeps the weeds down. Depending how far I get with my raised beds, I may well bo doing something similar this year.