Weed mat. Worth having or a waste of time?

We've got an area of the garden we want to plant out with small shrubs and groundcovers, and one of the suggestions is to weedmat it with some woven material something like shadecloth but purpose built for weed control.

Last time we did anything like this it was with newspaper, and it worked mostly, but then the stuff we planted took over, I think it was worse than the weeds and probably just choked them out...

We also want to put down a decent layer of mulch. Say 10cm at least. Should we go with bark/wood chips, mushroom compost or what?

woodbe.

They work for us in the UK.

There are quality differences tho.

I don't think weed mats are worth the expense as they don't work very well. The newspapers are better as they will kill of the weeds before they decompose and rot away.

What I did was first kill of the weeds with weedkiller (glysophate from Bunnings, but not the equivalent expensive Roundup) and then cover with a good layer, say 100mm, of woodmulch.

Bark or woodchips are fine but mushroom composts will decompose too quickly. By all means use that as a soil conditioner under the woodchips but not in place of.


Peter.

I havent done any weeding in 20 years on my patch:D (mat plus gravel)

I tried some a while back, and thought it was next to useless. Topped it with a layer of pebbles and nutgrass just found its way straight through the mesh!:oo: I won't be wasting my money again. I think Roundup, then lots of cardboard or newspaper topped with 100mm of barkchips is the answer.

Cheers,

I recall I put an old carpet (nylon variety) on a flower bed once that lasted around 4 years, covered in chips.

I think latterly the plastics people might have put a plastic mat on the market that is degradeable, whereas 20 years ago it wasnt the vogue.

Thanks for the replies,

Woody, you must have well behaved weeds in Devon or maybe it's the permafrost :)

Most people here and on google seem to be saying that a decent layer (10cm+) of bark chips is the go.

woodbe.

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Originally Posted by woodbe

Thanks for the replies,

Woody, you must have well behaved weeds in Devon or maybe it's the permafrost :)

Most people here and on google seem to be saying that a decent layer (10cm+) of bark chips is the go.

woodbe.

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If you live on one of those Adelaide hills, it will wash down.

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Originally Posted by jow104

If you live on one of those Adelaide hills, it will wash down.

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That would be true if it ever rained. :2tsup:

woodbe.

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Originally Posted by woodbe

That would be true if it ever rained. :2tsup:

woodbe.

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I put down a weed mat 12 months ago and then covered it with pebbles..

Not one weed has come through as yet.......did the job for me

It may also depend on what type of weeds will come through.

Up here some areas have nut grass that will even go through above ground swimming pool liners so weed mat also does nothing.

What kind of weeds do you have....

news paper and dont be mean with it ......at least 12 pages thick and dont leave any bare spots ...weeds will find them ....overlap the paper really well until you have built up a decent thickness ....use a good quality screened soil ......screen your own if you like ......lay that down , then add a thick layer ..at least 4 inches (100mm) of either redgum chips or ucalyptus mulch ....both work well ....if planting vegies ...plant some crysanthimums and daisies as well , these help control garden pests like leaf moths , aphids etc ...:2tsup:

The problem with the stuff isn't so much weeds coming through it. It is that weeds will eventually germinate on top of it.

Ok you have covered it with gravel but soil will eventually get in there. Once the weeds germinate the roots will chase water IE down through the mat then they are very hard to pull out.

So you have actually created a lot of work in the long term.

I have to agree with Bleedin thumbs but if you do use gravel and no weed matting the gravel will eventually mix with the soil and sink into it. If you plan to use mulch I would not use it as the idea of the mulch is over time it breaks down and then you mix it with the soil and top up with fresh mulch. Not easy to do with weed mat.

Have not seen a better alternative for gravel or pebble mulch yet.

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Originally Posted by aussieorchid

Have not seen a better alternative for gravel or pebble mulch yet.

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Thats probably a good indication that gravel doesn't make a good garden mulch.:rolleyes: