@JennyJ Thankyou I had no idea that this was practice. I think I will speak to the guys doing the garden. If anyone else has experience of this I would be grateful to read your thoughts.
I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
We're an accredited installer for WFT. From memory when I last installed this product (I'm office based now) it was grown on a geotextile. I'm not entirely sure if it's biodegradable...I'd say it's probably not as we've had problems where WFT is installed in the spring and we've had to return in the autumn to plant bulbs and encountered issues...
We install acres of this every year. It's an incredibly popular, versatile and cost effective product.
Here's one of the threads: https://forum.gardenersworld.com/discussion/1051451/plastic-netting-in-turf/ For the record, I've largely abandoned all efforts to maintain my lawn as it's impossible, but still occasionally find bits of mesh caught up in tools, in entirely 'as new' condition. No 'degradation' (note, not biodegradation) whatsoever, just pollution. I would strongly urge anyone to refuse any turf 'reinforced' with this stuff, though suppliers will talk all kinds of b******s about how it's better, or use words that imply it's not a load of plastic.
'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
It's better for the suppliers because they can cut the turf thinner so each roll weights less, takes up less space so they can fit more on a lorry, and they remove less soil from the land every time they cut a crop of turf. There are a couple of environmental benefits, but the plastic being forever in the garden isn't one of them. Probably better, environmentally, to grow your lawn in-situ from seed.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
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Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
We install acres of this every year. It's an incredibly popular, versatile and cost effective product.
For the record, I've largely abandoned all efforts to maintain my lawn as it's impossible, but still occasionally find bits of mesh caught up in tools, in entirely 'as new' condition. No 'degradation' (note, not biodegradation) whatsoever, just pollution. I would strongly urge anyone to refuse any turf 'reinforced' with this stuff, though suppliers will talk all kinds of b******s about how it's better, or use words that imply it's not a load of plastic.