Black fabric

Heather25

Hi, I'm keen to put black fabric down before I plant this year. Too much weeding last year. Are there different types? Can anyone tell me what's best and where to buy it? Will the plants get enough water? Many thanks for any assistance.

flea72

how big an area do you want to cover, what type of plants do you want to put in it, and what covering are you going to put over the membrane?

mypex is the what the industry would use, but for the backyard garden, its a very expensive option

F

ginvzt

I think it is called weed control fabric, and you can get it in garden centres, B&Q, even Aldi & Wilko. I got 20m x 1m from a garden centre for £7-£8. I used mine to cover the ground for the new heather bed where I had leylandii trees and old heather growing, with a few patches of grass. I am only using this as temporary measure, and I am not going to cover it with anything at the moment.

shykins

i just bought some in poundland, they had 2 different sizes but the larger covered my 3ft x 10ft bed. granted it was pretty thin but hopefully it will keep the worst of the weeds down

dizziblonde

Poundstretcher had it in when I was in there the other day as well.

valk_scot

flea72 wrote: »

mypex is the what the industry would use, but for the backyard garden, its a very expensive option

I agree, it's the best thing out there. I inherited a 100m roll from my late SIL's garden shed six years ago and it's been going strong ever since. I used it on my paths, covered in barck chips; have covers cut to fit most of the beds over winter; grow my cabbages, sweetcorn and courgettes through it (holes are cut to correct spacing and I use the same pieces every year); plant the strawberry beds trough it and I've even used a bit at a lid for the compost bin. It's highly UV resistant, lets most rainfall through but is opaque to sunlight so weed growth under it is practically nil. And it lasts for years...far more durable than the crappy non-woven stuff from B&Q or that pathetic papery stuff from Poundstretcher so it will probably work out cheaper over time. Yes, expensive...the 100m roll of 2m wide cost SIL £100 six years back but if I'd known how useful it was going to be I'd have bought a roll myself years before that.

Heather25

Thanks for your replies! I have moved to a house with a small 3x4metre garden. I'm hoping to fill it with vegetables this year. I did read that you shouldn't put anything on top of the fabric as this gives the weeds something to grip. Fingers crossed - I'll give it a go.

flea72

Heather25 wrote: »

Thanks for your replies! I have moved to a house with a small 3x4metre garden. I'm hoping to fill it with vegetables this year. I did read that you shouldn't put anything on top of the fabric as this gives the weeds something to grip. Fingers crossed - I'll give it a go.

weeds will root in anything, even weed suppressant membrane - what the membrane does, is stop the weeds already in the ground, being given a chance to grow, by keeping them in the dark, and therefore unable to grow - we have a layer of shale on top of our membrane, because its more attractive than the membrane, it holds it down and stops it blowing away, and also prolongs the life of the membrane

you will still have to weed, even if using the membrane, but it just means you are starting from a blank, weed free canvas, so the maintenance is greatly reduced - as with all things, it does require work, but as long as you keep on top of it, you wont have the weeds taking over, as you dont let them get a foothold

one thing to note though. the more holes you cut in the fabric to allow plants to grow through, the more chance you have of weeds taking hold. if there is any soil showing around the plants, then weeds will accumulate there

F

dizziblonde

Yeah we mainly used it in my old house because the place was utterly jammed with buttercups which made it a complete and total nightmare to keep under control (and since it was a rented house which the landlord didn't repair I wasn't inclined to spend hours in his garden). Did the job there covered in bark chipping for aesthetics - we bought on the same street and the old house front garden's still looking weed free whereas normally it would be buttercuptacular by this point in the year.

Stuff we used was from Wickes I believe - bought a decent sized roll, still have most of it left and in the new place's shed.

SailorSam

I got some last year from B&M to put down before laying small flags which are my greenhouse base.
It was pretty cheap but rubbish, i still have grass growing through.

Peterpiperoo

I'd be inclined to buy from a decking supplier. I got some for under my new decking last year and I can tell you it was a lot better quality than the flimsy stuff in B & Q Or Poundstretcher.