Plastic sheeting as weed suppressant

4 Mar '07 6:52 pm

I have asked this question before, but more vaguely and not received any clear yes/no answers. Comments and suggestions please!

This morning at 7 I was sitting in the Anniversary Garden and thinking that in many ways it has not been a success. Like all dedicated rose gardens, it shows neglect too quickly, and takes too much maintenance. My poor parents (to my gentle amusement, I must add) traipse down to deadhead regularly, something I’ve never seen my father do before. But the roses are not looking their best – in fact there have been alarming losses and too much die back. So I decided the project for this winter must be the upgrading of the Anniversary Garden.

A Moosey-like list:
1. Improve irrigation so that each roses has a dedicated nozzle and the taps can be reached by the elderly and infirm. (That includes me on a bad day.)
2. Start a regular program of feeding.
3. Plan and plant shrubs for diversity, especially in the two side beds. The colour scheme is yellow and mauve.
4. Most importantly: provide weed suppressant and easy stepping stones between the roses.

This is were I really need help. I can source endless quantities of off-cut tunnel plastic. I want to put it down in strips along the contour with occasional ‘spacers’ where layers overlap, so that rainwater can make its way into the ground at regular intervals. Then I want to cover the plastic, most likely with gravel interspersed with stepping stones and pots for mauve petunias.

Is this going to work? My biggest worry is to starve the soil of oxygen. However I think that at most areas of 1m² will be covered before there is a ‘breathing point’.

7 Mar '07 3:30 am

Hi Jack, I was reading this post over the weekend when I was interrupted before posting a reply. So here goes my humble two cents worth. Having tried the special weed mat (like plastic sheeting, but permeated with tiny holes to allow drainage, I have decided that it is more trouble than it is worth for me. The problem I found was that I have a very aggressive grass that sends long runners underground that then just poke a hole in the sheeting to emerge. They cannot be removed without lifting the sheeting to get to the runner that has "crawled" just under the surface, for several feet sometimes. That makes a terrible mess of the mulch covering the sheeting. You may not have any aggressive creepers like that; so it might be very successful for you. Mary has used weed matting in some of her garden areas, but I haven't yet read whether they have been successful or not. The only time I tried plastic sheeting covered with mulch, I found that the mulch tended to wash or blow off the sheeting, leaving large patches of ugly exposed black sheeting. Whatever you decide, I wish you success. We gardeners are always looking for ways to cut down on the maintenance issues so that we can enjoy the beauty of our gardens more.

7 Mar '07 7:19 am

I decided on the vaguest of 'rules'. If I am intending to cover the ground with a non-decomposing surface like small stones, then I will use a weed-mat. It's a permanent cloth like roll of material, and looks a lttle breathable. And like Faith's, little weeds do pop up. So far I've done this for paths only.
But if the surface is going to be covered with something decomposable (if there is such a word) like bark chips, then I only use damp newspaper - thickly laid. And this is what happens in all my garden borders. The covering is always rotting hay, or shreddings, etc.

Thus the 'look' defines the material. Hmm...
Honestly, Jack, newspaper feels so much better. And you get a jolly good read while you're gardening! Don't use the bright colours on shiny paper pamphlets though.
Hmm...

8 Mar '07 4:04 am

I have to say I am relieved that Mary agrees with my input. I have used thick pads of damp paper very effectively in making all my new beds. It saves a lot of work at the outset because it can be laid directly over the top of whatever (weeds or grass) that exists in the spot I intend to house my new bed. Then on top goes a thick layer of compost (or composted horse manuer in my case) and then on top of that any mulching material I have available. The paper does a good job of killing off any shallow rooted weeds or grass, yet decomposes slowly so that if an aggressive crawler does invade, it is easily removed without having to disturb the entire bed. Also, if you are planting something with a large rootball, the hole can be dug right through the paper into the soil below. Another benefit is that earthworms seem to love eating decomposing newspaper, so they both till and enrich the soil with their castings. I have even used cardboard boxes when I run out of newspaper. It's a little tougher to dig through, but works just as well.

9 Mar '07 6:17 am

9 Mar '07 7:51 am

I used it one year in my on going battle with oxalis -I thought it might be the answer .
The ground baked hard -no worm activity -and once plastic taken away ,the oxalis was as bad as ever! sorry to be so gloomy -the others advice re paper and card seems to be the way to go !
Dixie.

10 Mar '07 5:52 am

Thank you all for the interesting and informative replies. My mother's response was much less reasoned: "I'm not having any plastic in MY rose garden! It's much too artificial!!"

So that's it, Ladies - YOU WIN!

10 Mar '07 8:06 am

Jack I love your mother! Give her a huge New Zealand hug from me.

11 Mar '07 1:40 am

And you can give her a big smacky USA kiss on the cheek from me!

23 Mar '07 6:31 pm

I agree with all those who suggested using paper to suppress weeds. I used it under the bark mulch on all my paths and very few weeds came through. The thing that I like best about the paper is that it lets the rain through, unlike the plastic. I just laid several layers of opened newspapers all over the base of the paths, wetted them down (to keep the wind from blowing them around while I covered them), then I covered them with 4 inches of bark mulch. Every second year I add another layer of mulch as the old stuff decomposes and packs down.

-gordonf

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