Do woodchips prevent weeds ?

Cyril

I have a newly created border and am struggling to keep it free of weeds and wondered if woodchips are the answer, or does the roots being hidden from daylight prevent the plants / shrubs from growing / living.

Any thoughts on controlling the weeds as I just don't have time to maintain it all the time. I have 7 acres and am struggling to do everything.

tim_n

For a time, yes, but not for long. Unfortunately woodchip starts to break down the moment you put it on the ground. Even if you put it onto plastic, it'll start to rot and eventually turns into soil which weeds & grass love.

for some weeds even concrete doesn't surfice. I've seen marestail just punch up through it - so it depends on what you're using.

The best way is to dig up all weeds and sieve to get rid of every little bit, cover in carboard, then landscaping fabric and cover in pea shingle or similar. You'll still get weeds, but at a much slower rate and they're easily pulled out of pea shingle.

Just re-read and saw '7 acres'. Good luck with that, I think you'll find weeds whatever you do - so unless you've got an army of gardeners I'd plump with either learning to love weeds or buy some pigs.

[Deleted User]

I created a garden from scratch as we moved into a property which had been empty for some time.

I tried the woodchip thing and thought - this is great...until the weeds grew back. I then discovered that it is really hard to weed when you have wood chip down. You cannot easily get a trowel or hoe in as the woodchip is in the way.

The way I did it was to really keep on top of things. I cleared a big area and then religiously every went out every week and hoed and hoed and hoed. Really hard work, but it paid off - however, I don't have 7 acres. I also used black plastic sheeting for some areas to try and kill as much as I could and this worked well, but I needed to leave it down for some time.

lostinrates

Is the seven acres garden, or is some field/paddock?

Top any grass/paddocjk areas and weed the borders only, a section a day.

Cyril

lostinrates wrote: »

Is the seven acres garden, or is some field/paddock?

Top any grass/paddocjk areas and weed the borders only, a section a day.

Yes its a combination of the two but even in the paddocks I am struggling to keep on top of the weeds. Nightmare. Sometimes I long for a terrace house and patio with a few pots / tubs.

lostinrates

Well, I'm in a simialr situation, three of my acres is pure thrisle atm, then an acre or so of pure bramble. I've already topped the thistle twice this year, but its desperate again. I never long for anything else though!

You could try finding a pony paddock maintanance person or a local farmer to top the paddock/field bits. It will take hardly any time with a tractor, a little more with a quad and flail, a long day maybe two with a ride on and an interminable time with a strimmer/mower!

The best thing for the paddocks is to be using them....are you grazing them, leaving just weed standing? If so its much easier to mow plus better for the ground/grass.

ItMightBeUsefulOneDay

Cyril wrote: »

I have a newly created border and am struggling to keep it free of weeds and wondered if woodchips are the answer

If you put the woodchip thick enough it can cut down the weeds yes. I managed to reduce even bindweed down to a few plants per year doing this but the area was small and I put 3 - 4" thick of chips down. Topped them up every year too.

Cyril wrote: »

I have 7 acres and am struggling to do everything.

How much of that are you trying to turn into an idillic weed free area? All of it means a team of groundkeepers.

Otherwise mow all (6.9 acres would be my suggestion) areas you want as "grass". Most weeds don't take kindly to being mowed on a weekly basis and you'll end up with a grass-esque effect eventually. Use weed control fabric on boarders to cut down the weeds and let your chosen plants establish and flourish.

gardenroute

Woodchips cover the soil so weed seeds are much less likely to germinate underneath. They also provide a surface that weeds can't as easily germinate on as bare soil. They won't stop established weeds from growing through the chip and as SITB said it makes weeding harder.
Membrane/newspaper/cardboard with a layer of woodchip on top will certainly help keep most of the weeds at bay; there will always be the odd one poking through somewhere.
It depends on the weeds growing as well. Annual weeds can be slowed down a lot by woodchip, espcially when its a thick layer.
As a few others have mentioned its worth, at least to start with, creating a small garden around the house that you can easily maintain. You might be able to find a sheep/horse owner who is looking for some land to rent.