When using garden fabric to restrict weeds, should you put the compost down first or is it okay put it on top of the fabric??
Claudia
Garden Fabric & Compost
Moderator: Chris_W
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nanny_56
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Garden Fabric & Compost
Claudia
"When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest" - John Muir
"When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest" - John Muir
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Chris_W
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If you are going to use fabric the soil below should be prepared first and then just top with mulch or stone.
Personally I do not recommend fabric for perennials. You can really only use it for beds that are going to be strictly for shrubs or a few select clumping type plants in areas that you never plan to replant or cultivate in the future. It also works really well if you are going to top with stones such as in a pathway.
The problems with fabric include: restricting perennial root growth and preventing plants from expanding/spreading; making it nearly impossible to weed once weeds start growing in the surface mulch; making it very difficult to transplant, replant, or rearrange the garden; preventing nutrients from decaying mulch from percolating down in the root zone, and over time it can really get to be a mess.
A thick layer of mulch will do more to prevent weeds and the mulch will help to improve the soil over time.
The only times I use fabric are under pathways, in our shade houses, under stone mulch, and sometimes in shrub beds if I don't intend to plant perennials.
Hope that helps a little
Chris
Personally I do not recommend fabric for perennials. You can really only use it for beds that are going to be strictly for shrubs or a few select clumping type plants in areas that you never plan to replant or cultivate in the future. It also works really well if you are going to top with stones such as in a pathway.
The problems with fabric include: restricting perennial root growth and preventing plants from expanding/spreading; making it nearly impossible to weed once weeds start growing in the surface mulch; making it very difficult to transplant, replant, or rearrange the garden; preventing nutrients from decaying mulch from percolating down in the root zone, and over time it can really get to be a mess.
A thick layer of mulch will do more to prevent weeds and the mulch will help to improve the soil over time.
The only times I use fabric are under pathways, in our shade houses, under stone mulch, and sometimes in shrub beds if I don't intend to plant perennials.
Hope that helps a little
Chris
Claudia
You can use old papers instead of fabric, it will break down in a few years, you can dig a hole in it and it is free
I'm with Chris, fabric is best where you are not going to grow anything but make a nice wiev by topping it with clippings or small stones- know a lot of names for those stones, but none of them are English
Pia
You can use old papers instead of fabric, it will break down in a few years, you can dig a hole in it and it is free
I'm with Chris, fabric is best where you are not going to grow anything but make a nice wiev by topping it with clippings or small stones- know a lot of names for those stones, but none of them are English
Pia
Against stupidity the gods themselves struggle in vain.
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