I put in an entire yard, front, back,and sides after my new house construction was completed. As summer ended I laid heavy duty overlapping cardboard which I got from an appliance store receiving dock to cover my entire yard from foundation to fence. Neighbor’s established trees dropped all their fall leaves on it plus I added two dump truck loads of trees the city delivered for free from the leaves city residents had raked out onto the curbside for city pickup. That did a number of things: blocked and killed all weeds under it, attracted tons of earthworms as they love cardboard, gave something other than mud to walk on, kept the house siding clean with no dirt splashed up from fall, winter, and spring rains. That gave me the wet months to come up with a landscape plan which I started as soon as weather permitted.
Would love to be able to have some new plants to plant this fall. You have inspired me to with what you are doing at your new house. Can’t wait to see more progress in your front yard!
Agree its a great video for that lightweight stuff. But that stuff disintegrates here in weeks not years. So we have the thicker path and drive fabric. Like a cheap tarp. Hoping that kills everything to death for my children, and my children's children and their children. Because the previous owner used that stuff under the gravel and what a bitch it has been to get up. Urghhhhh I literally loath it. Weeds had literally formed a mat over the gravel. We were able to roll some of it up but it weighed like a safe full of lead. Dragged it off. Never want this job again. If I could i would concrete it and then gravel it.
Have been able to locate native trees that have been overgrown over the years by finding the natives still growing. The first 5 years are critical to giving your trees a chance to survive and reducing maitanence. The dollar spent per square or less more then pays for a good start for your plants.
I'm building a raised bed because my garden is essentially paving on a concrete slab, my plan was to build the bed , put a layer of gravel at the bottom for drainage, cover with weed control fabric and lay the soil on top of the weed control fabric so the gravel doesn't mix in with the soil (a very similar set up to how I've done a bio-active snake vivarium) . I'm now doubting if this is a good plan …
I totally agree. Moved into a 14 year old house with over 200 sq. ft of landscaping fabric topped with mulch in one area. There are too many weeds to count growing there right now.
Thank you for sharing this. We're in a battle with crabgrass and put the fabric over the back yard (we removed all the grass and put in a garden) but it seems some of the plants near the fabric aren't doing well. I think we'll remove the fabric next spring – what would you recommend for weed control that won't hurt the wildlife?
Or you can choose to buy better weed blocker. The weed blocker in this video is horrible. For the amount you spend on these cheap weed blockers over and over again you can buy something like Agfabric, Dewitt Sunbelt, or megagrow weed blockers/landscape fabrics. These cheap rolls in the store are worthless and cause more work and more out of pocket expense in the long run. These cheap rolls even claim 10-20yr protection when in reality it is more like not even a single growing season. Stop giving these scamming companies your hard earned money. You deserve better for you and your family.
Very helpful, thanks!
Will this prevent ground cover plants from spreading? I’m going to plant some drift roses and I’d like them to be able to spread.
Totally agree on soil improvement
How harmful do you think the chemicals in newspaper are as it decomposes in the soil?
I love weeds I would never recommend fabric I charge $20 a flower bed
Don’t mulch over it. Use it for veg garden to suppress weeds. Lay it down, burn holes in it and plant in the hole
None of the big corporate landscapers in my area use it. A good layer of pine straw mulch and spot-treat for weeds does the job.
I thought about using the fabric in the garden but now…I don't know
I put in an entire yard, front, back,and sides after my new house construction was completed. As summer ended I laid heavy duty overlapping cardboard which I got from an appliance store receiving dock to cover my entire yard from foundation to fence. Neighbor’s established trees dropped all their fall leaves on it plus I added two dump truck loads of trees the city delivered for free from the leaves city residents had raked out onto the curbside for city pickup. That did a number of things: blocked and killed all weeds under it, attracted tons of earthworms as they love cardboard, gave something other than mud to walk on, kept the house siding clean with no dirt splashed up from fall, winter, and spring rains. That gave me the wet months to come up with a landscape plan which I started as soon as weather permitted.
can i lay down sod over the weed barrier?
wow thank you for that
Oh thank you! Really good information and simple to understand. Makes a lot of sense. 😁
Would love to be able to have some new plants to plant this fall. You have inspired me to with what you are doing at your new house. Can’t wait to see more progress in your front yard!
Agree its a great video for that lightweight stuff. But that stuff disintegrates here in weeks not years. So we have the thicker path and drive fabric. Like a cheap tarp. Hoping that kills everything to death for my children, and my children's children and their children. Because the previous owner used that stuff under the gravel and what a bitch it has been to get up. Urghhhhh I literally loath it. Weeds had literally formed a mat over the gravel. We were able to roll some of it up but it weighed like a safe full of lead. Dragged it off. Never want this job again. If I could i would concrete it and then gravel it.
I do lawn work, really hate that fabric. It moves and gets dug up often. Dogs will dig it up for fun.
Have been able to locate native trees that have been overgrown over the years by finding the natives still growing. The first 5 years are critical to giving your trees a chance to survive and reducing maitanence. The dollar spent per square or less more then pays for a good start for your plants.
Useful information. I wish I had viewed this before I spent $200 on the longest guaranteed fabric at Loew's.🙄
So the barrier would be better used if covered with rocks than mulch?
I'm building a raised bed because my garden is essentially paving on a concrete slab, my plan was to build the bed , put a layer of gravel at the bottom for drainage, cover with weed control fabric and lay the soil on top of the weed control fabric so the gravel doesn't mix in with the soil (a very similar set up to how I've done a bio-active snake vivarium) . I'm now doubting if this is a good plan …
I totally agree. Moved into a 14 year old house with over 200 sq. ft of landscaping fabric topped with mulch in one area. There are too many weeds to count growing there right now.
Thank you for sharing this. We're in a battle with crabgrass and put the fabric over the back yard (we removed all the grass and put in a garden) but it seems some of the plants near the fabric aren't doing well. I think we'll remove the fabric next spring – what would you recommend for weed control that won't hurt the wildlife?
Or you can choose to buy better weed blocker. The weed blocker in this video is horrible. For the amount you spend on these cheap weed blockers over and over again you can buy something like Agfabric, Dewitt Sunbelt, or megagrow weed blockers/landscape fabrics. These cheap rolls in the store are worthless and cause more work and more out of pocket expense in the long run. These cheap rolls even claim 10-20yr protection when in reality it is more like not even a single growing season. Stop giving these scamming companies your hard earned money. You deserve better for you and your family.
Put it down, liked it the first year, then the next year it became an absolute nightmare.