Author Topic: Use of weed control fabric  (Read 2215 times)

lezelle

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Use of weed control fabric
« on: July 14, 2019, 12:26:23 »
Hi ya, I noticed watching a gardening programme the people, on a working veg box supply, using weed control fabric. That looks ok I thought so invested in some. It is a plastic weave so laid on the width of my plot I cut it easily to length with a gas blow torch. I then made a template and burnt hole every 1ft to plant though. I made 4" holes but with hindsight should of made them smaller. It seems to be successful so far and I am considering investing in some more as due to health problems I find weeding a pain. This year they seem to of gone mad. I am going for the minimum dig option and wondered does anyone else follow this and do they use fabric? What about no dig? I can see the idea behind it and it makes sense but you still have to dig to lift spuds. I will look forward to any thoughts, advice, ideas on this. I have researched utube etc but would like to hear from gardeners who actually do use this method. Thanks to all in advance and happy gardening

tricia

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Re: Use of weed control fabric
« Reply #1 on: July 14, 2019, 18:06:57 »
I do, Lezelle. I have four raised beds in my small garden and use membrane in much the same way. I'm using the same membrane for the third year, just move it along the row to rotate crops each year. After harvesting I clean each bed and just loosen the soil with a fork before replacing the membrane. (to keep the cats off!). When I had access to manure I would spread a good layer before replacing the membrane, sadly that is no longer the case so I use chicken manure pellets a couple of weeks before planting out the following Spring.

Tricia  :wave:

Beersmith

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Re: Use of weed control fabric
« Reply #2 on: July 14, 2019, 21:19:11 »
I have used it on occasions but I found it provided a really good home for slugs. Warm, dark and damp, and protected from birds, the slugs loved it.  Really good for weed suppression of course but it did not reduce time and effort by much because it needed regular lifting to deal with the slimey nuisances.

Also - my own fault - I didn't seal the edges so it began to fray. My approach to weed control is very old fashioned, mulch wherever possible, but otherwise regular hoeing and a bit of hand weeding.
Not mad, just out to mulch!

gwynleg

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Re: Use of weed control fabric
« Reply #3 on: July 15, 2019, 07:12:55 »
Hi I use a no dig approach. I took over a very weedy allotment and as I had an injury couldn’t dig it over in the first year, so I covered most of it with membrane and grew lots of squash in gaps between. I left the membrane on for a year and thats got rid of lots of the weeds (not the bindweed though!). I then put lots of well rotted manure into raised beds (on top of cardboard to stop weeds even more) and grow directly into that - it seems to work well and the weeds are minimal. I use membrane for paths so I dont have to keep them weeded.

I think the issue for you would be the amount of work for moving the manure in the first place - after that its much much easier.

Vinlander

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Re: Use of weed control fabric
« Reply #4 on: July 15, 2019, 10:25:14 »
Rant Alert - you have been warned...

I've been using black woven stuff for the first time this year - just a quick fix for the Tidy Police - because it seems more socially acceptable to the knee-jerk jobsworths who gravitate to the role.

Some people think there's something wrong with you if your first response to a problem isn't to throw money at it. I call their approach a failure of imagination.

Poles apart.

I do admire the guys who use push mowers (they're a lot fitter than I am and there's no subscription to that particular gym)**.

Anyway to get back to the black woven stuff - don't even think of cutting it with a blade - it will fray and fray until it's just tow. Unfortunately I had no gas lighters to use when I was laying it - I've had to go to Poundland - though I'm seriously thinking of using a magnifying glass to do the job - if the sun ever comes out again*.

Also it's a long way from opaque - grass that's been under it for a six weeks isn't even properly yellow yet. I'm going to have to put woodchip on top to get a kill any time soon - so I could have used tarp & chip in the first place for a fraction of the price (and no fraying). NB. tarp eventually becomes permeable but if you are planting through it, then it doesn't need to be anyway.

*Will a magnifying glass heat-shrink PET too? I can't wait to try - I have so many uses for this modern version of rawhide... Has anyone tried using those A4 fresnel magnifier plates to focus the sun? I don't need a perfect point focus if the aperture is big enough.

**However it seems everyone else can't wait to get their hands on a noisy 2-stroke gizmo and throw petrol at the problem. Large strimmers may be useful to clear brambles and brushwood and small ones may have a place in a large ornamental garden,  but I'm convinced that on an allotment it's much more efficient in time and wasted energy if you just get the bloody grass out with a spade once a year, and ideally dig out all that precious topsoil you're walking on and replace it with spit-deep chip.

Cheers.
With a microholding you always get too much or bugger-all. (I'm fed up calling it an allotment garden - it just encourages the tidy-police).

The simple/complex split is more & more important: Simple fertilisers Poor, complex ones Good. Simple (old) poisons predictable, others (new) the opposite.

Plot 18

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Re: Use of weed control fabric
« Reply #5 on: July 15, 2019, 10:41:53 »
If I'm using it to kill weeds I put a thick layer of newspapers or some cardboard under the fabric. If the ground is already weed-free then the fabric stops weed seeds germinating.
I cut any holes, and weld any cut edges (to stop fraying) with a soldering iron. I obviously do this at home so need to think about spacing before I start ;)

Vinlander

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Re: Use of weed control fabric
« Reply #6 on: July 16, 2019, 09:11:26 »
It pleases me to do things backwards, or in this case upside down...

Anything on top of a plastic membrane will tend to dry out every time it stops raining, and the weeds don't like that much.*  Obviously there is a perfect permeability that allows puddles to drain but stops the moisture below moving into whatever is on top. This can be achieved quite easily if you use tarp and push a nail through it every m2. There are various methods to stop the wind disturbing the covering.

The black stuff is so expensive that I'm reluctant to leave it exposed to the sun - I will probably end up using it to quickly cover beds in winter and quickly remove it in spring - I'll probably store it in summer.

Cheers.

* in fact it is the only sensible way to use carpets on the soil - without the membrane they stay damp because of the moisture coming up from below and grass and weeds have a field day, not to mention the carpet glues itself to the soil making it very difficult to turn it over once a year (which is all they need to get rid whatever weeds try to invade). I'm not going to repeat the discussion about what types of carpet are evil or not - I suspect they all end up in landfill anyway.
With a microholding you always get too much or bugger-all. (I'm fed up calling it an allotment garden - it just encourages the tidy-police).

The simple/complex split is more & more important: Simple fertilisers Poor, complex ones Good. Simple (old) poisons predictable, others (new) the opposite.

 

anything
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