This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.
Weed Control and Ground Covering
oldmanraskers
Posts: 6
Hi,
I have previously had my entire garden covered in meadow grasses and wild flowers and now want to have normal borders, but I want to prevent the meadow grasses and wild flowers from shooting up in the borders. I have been thinking about covering the borders with weed control fabric and chipped stones (only for a few years) to prevent the unwanted growth. I intend to cut through the fabric and plant the flowers, but when the flower base is covered over with the stones, will I have problems with the new plants getting established.
Regards,
Mark.
0
Posts
I once did a new bed with plants inserted through weed suppressant fabric and chipped stones. Despite cutting generous crossed and folding back the fabric, two years later all the plants were gasping for space as they had grown big and strong and wanted room. Removing the stones and the fabric was a nightmare but I did eventually liberate all my plants.
I would suggest a better method would be to mark out your new beds and then apply a dose of glyphosate to kill off any perennial wildfowers and grasses. Once this has worked, dig the soil over adding as much well rotted manure and or garden compost as you can.
Plant your new treasures with enough space in between to hoe any new seedlings and taking into account there eventual height and width. Water them in well so they establish quickly. Keep them watered well until the autumn rains start so they don't get checked by drought. Then it's just a question of hoeing regularly to remove any unwanted seedlings.
Your border should get established quickly if you do the soil preparation right and then spread to cover all the soil. There will always be new weed seeds arriving on the wind or dropped by birds but hoeing will deal with these until there is no bare soil visible for them to set up home.
I'm glad you had some success with my proposed method, since I'm not keen on dosing my garden with herbicides and so forth. Thanks for the advice.
..you shouldn't have problems with it..no...I haven't with mine, although after 5 years I am gradually removing all the membrane as it's not something I like, in fact I detest the stuff... however it was a necessary evil to start off with...until the plants became established... planting can be awkward as I like to cut out a large round in order to dig a decent sized pit for the plant...also choosing the right plants helps....mine has taken on a dry garden look...which seems to suit it...Lavender...Stipa and Festuca grasses ..Aster's...Kniphofia...Phormium...Yucca...Alpines of many kinds...Aubrietia and Veronica...Lavatera...Ceanothus...all sorts of lovely things really...Iberis 'Snowflake' flowers from January - June...I also use as edging...
Sounds lovely, Salino. My garden is very small at around 60m square, and although a meadow type garden was great when I was working away, now that I'm home I need somewhere I can use to relax. It will take some time, But I will get there. How has your Lavender done?
..lavenders are huge...everything has grown so well..my Yucca is in full flower first time this year... one thing I think is very important in this type of garden, is drainage... I used copious amounts of hort. grit when planting...as if you don't get this right, plants can sit in a sump and suffer during the winter...
..my border planted in this way, is 60 foot long by about 5 foot wide... obelixx above here gives sound advice if you want to take that route... but I don't use chemicals and the membrane and decorative gravel covering was quite important to start off with...for this border...but planting can be awkward... I have to emphasise that..but once they're in....that's it..and I use plants that don't need feeding or fussing over... also I found it best to plant from the smallest size pots...Helianthemum's and Sedum's are others I use a lot here...so easy to grow and maintain...
It's not very good for soil health though, particularly worms, who's numbers will plummet. A better method is to mulch with compost (not one which contains weed seeds though, so commercial stuff is best to keep weed-free) or chipped bark.
If you do go for the fabric, lay a good 4 inches of compost down first to help keep the worms happy (IMO they are vital if you have heavy soil.)
I don't like chemicals either but I do resort to glyphosate for persistent weeds. I don't use pesticides or fungicides but rely on having healthy soil and plants and lots of visiting and resident birds to keep my garden clean.
I agree with Bob about the worms too. Loads more in the bed in question now that the fabric has gone. Like Salino, I found digging a decent hole through the slit in the membrane was problematical. I think a natural mulch is the way to go so consider a good thick layer of chipped bark once planting is done. It will help retain moisture and reduce weed seed germination and is a lot lighter to handle.
Hmm, maybe I should reconsider. I've put the fabric down now but could take it back up, I guess.