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Weed matting - a bed for weeds...
Peanuts3
Posts: 759
Is it me or is weed matting a waste of time ? I've worked in a few gardens recently where there has been weed matting covered in stones so it is low maintenance but its a nightmare, weed seeds just land there and grow and are a pain to clear. I've tried to clear them manually but have had to resort to weedkiller or pull up the weed matting altogether.
What are your thoughts on it and how does it make your life easier or how do you maintain them so they don't just become a weed bed.
Thank you. x
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I love it, ours has been down for five years, granite chippings on the top, I pick out anything that may grow as I see them. Have resorted to a little weed spray for some tough grass that came up through.
I think it's Ok provided the users understand the difference between low maintenance and no maintenance. My mum had her last garden membraned and gravelled, "so it will need less weeding.". Ever the sceptic, I tried to convince her that detritus would build up in the gravel and weed seeds would germinate in it. "But" she said, They'll be easier to pull out.". Thanks to a combination of naive optimism and failing sight, the weeds gradually took over but it looked Ok to her.
Personally I hate the fashion for hiding gardens under stone and concrete. If you don't like gardening, live in a flat!
josua47 "Personally I hate the fashion for hiding gardens under stone and concrete. If you don't like gardening, live in a flat!"
Well-said.
I don't think people are necessarily 'hiding gardens under stone and concrete'.
Hard landscaping is vital in order to get around a garden for a start, and also for a dining/seating area. I certainly couldn't manage without gravelled paths and solid areas for benches/seats.
Membrane under that kind of area makes it easier to maintain, but you still have some maintenance. I do the same as Lyn. Hand pull anything popping up that isn't desirable, and the odd bit of spot weedkiller for anything stubborn.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I certainly wouldn't like to lawn or flower bed my drive. Imagine driving over grass or soil everyday, especially when OH parks his lorry.
scroggin - I think Ned Lutyens ( a master of hard landscaping) might have been slightly offended if anyone had suggested the glorious gardens he and Gertrude Jekyll created were for people who didn't like gardening!
I always thought you had a big garden, but it looks about the same size as mine, or is that just a little slice of it? Lovely pic
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Oh dear, I didn't mean to stir up such a hornet's nest. Sorry for the offence I have unwittingly caused. I wasn't meaning to castigate anyone for having paths, patios, drives, hard standing for a boat or caravan, steps or retaining walls! I was thinking more of some "gardens" I've seen, usually on modern estates, where it's nearly all stone or paving.
Gravel over a membrane at least has the virtue of letting rain through. Some of the flooding of recent years has been attributed to gardens being surfaced for parking. It's a pity more people don't use grasscrete, which is both durable and permeable to water and plants.
Last edited: 21 July 2017 19:36:52