Weed Matting and Bulbs...?

r.a.i.n.b.o.w

Is it OK to lay weed matting over where bulbs are planted? Can I plant new bulbs ready for spring growth before laying the matting this month?

Vibrant

The bigger bulbs like daffs and tulips, will sometimes push through cheap weed fabric, but it's not a good idea. Snowdrops and crocus etc, will have no chance.
You can put your bulbs in from now until December.

I'm not a great fan of weed fabric, it often causes as many problems as it solves. Try a Dutch hoe, quick, good exercise and highly effective.

olly300

If you want to suppress weeds and plant bulbs you are better of removing as many weeds as possible by hand, planting the bulbs and covering the area with a layer of bark chippings. Use the ones that are for mulching not for play areas. The bark chippings will decompose over time (some of mine have taken ages to do so) and you will get weeds growing in the chippings but they should be easy to pull out.

r.a.i.n.b.o.w

olly300 wrote: »

If you want to suppress weeds and plant bulbs you are better of removing as many weeds as possible by hand, planting the bulbs and covering the area with a layer of bark chippings. Use the ones that are for mulching not for play areas. The bark chippings will decompose over time (some of mine have taken ages to do so) and you will get weeds growing in the chippings but they should be easy to pull out.

But I won't be able to start planting my veggies in spring then...will I?

Basically, I have a garden (newly aquired) that I need to get rid of the weeds so that it's ready for veggies, plants etc in spring. If I weed now, it'll need weeding again in spring (I've been told?). I want to get some bulbs in so that there's some spring colour, but I don't want to kill them off with matting...

Vibrant

If you want to plant vegetables, you shouldn't use weed fabric, or chippings (which cats tend to use as a toilet). As I mentioned before, get a hoe. There is no work free answer to weed control, in ground you want to actively use. Five minutes with a hoe, every couple of weeks during the growing season, will keep the ground clear and after a year, or two, you will get very few weeds.

By the way, plant your bulbs in groups, so that the foliage isn't a big problem when you come to plant your veg.

Lotus-eater

But you're asking about 2 different things, aren't you?
Flower bulbs and veggies.

Where your flower bulbs are, you can stick whatever you want over the soil, as long as you remove it before they start growing, but as not that many weeds are growing from now on, just do it by hand, or put some sort of a loose mulch on top.
Your veggie patch, weed then throw whatever you want on it, I use cardboard over winter and then peel back in Spring to find ready to go soil.

olly300

r.a.i.n.b.o.w wrote: »

But I won't be able to start planting my veggies in spring then...will I?

We aren't mind readers.

As the others have pointed out there is no work free way of getting rid of weeds particularly if they are perennial types which tend to have deep roots or grow from small root fragments.

You can use weed killer but it has to be dry and the weeds have to be actively growing. Plus you have to come and dig the remains of the weed out after about 10 days. In addition killing perennial weeds need lots of applications so it's actually quicker and cheaper to dig them out.

I have had to dig out all sorts of perennial weeds apart from horsetail.

Annual weeds are easily removed with a hoe as stated by Vibrant.

Also weed matting doesn't stop the dormant seeds germinating once you remove it and expose them to the light. And perennial weeds can grow through weed matting.


BTW the only flowers I grow with vegetables are annuals.