@clematisdorset I have an section of my garden which used to be used as a veg plot. I is approximately 20 feet by 30 and I no longer use it. I don't want to spray it with weedkiller every few weeks so the only practical alternative is heavy duty weed fabric and stone covering of some kind. Even converting into a wildflower meadow would require maintenance and I'm not able to do that any more. I can't afford to get a gardener in.
KT53- Landscape fabric is something that seems on the face of it to do the job and to an extent it works in as much as any perennial weed roots under it can’t break through. Using it with gravel is not maintenance free however because it’s necessary to keep the gravel clean, otherwise fallen leaves etc fall on it and if left break down to form a soil layer. This layer provides a medium for weeds to grow in and that’s why you see so many gravel gardens with weeds growing in them which eventually become mud with gravel in it.
I’ve had the same results laying gravel without fabric as I’ve had with, so I stopped using the fabric. There are exceptions of course and that’s where you’re covering pernicious weeds like ground elder or mares tails but then I’d rather use glyphosate on them for a season or two because I consider it the lesser of two evils. Landscape fabric will be their forever, glyphosate will wash out.
For what it’s worth, I firmly believe landscape fabric will be a big no no in the near future.
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I’ve had the same results laying gravel without fabric as I’ve had with, so I stopped using the fabric. There are exceptions of course and that’s where you’re covering pernicious weeds like ground elder or mares tails but then I’d rather use glyphosate on them for a season or two because I consider it the lesser of two evils. Landscape fabric will be their forever, glyphosate will wash out.
For what it’s worth, I firmly believe landscape fabric will be a big no no in the near future.