[dan deutekom]

John

All I will say about this topic is that if it works for you....great.

But for me it is more trouble than it is worth. I have cleaned up more beds with fabric (with great difficulty and expense) than I care to think about. I will not use, recommend or even consider a landscape fabric for weed control, no matter what.

[4seasons]

I guess you could put down fabric every 2 yrs or so

[HardDaysKnight]

Originally posted by dan deutekom
John

All I will say about this topic is that if it works for you....great.

But for me it is more trouble than it is worth. I have cleaned up more beds with fabric (with great difficulty and expense) than I care to think about. I will not use, recommend or even consider a landscape fabric for weed control, no matter what.

Same here, Dan. It's a hideous product.

[sleepy]

Heres the deal with fab. If you have perrinial weeds that wont go away after you pull them than you need the dewitt. If you can pull a weed and it will die and be gone than you dont need it. Only put enough bark ontop to hide fab. dont use bark with too many fines in it. dont walk on fab when muddy. fuzzy side down for flat fuzzy side up for slopes.yes you must still maintain the beds.we dont have snow so i cant comment on that all i know is it works on certain jobs. usa is a huge place and all parts are different so a general; yes or no for fab just will never work.

[familyguy]

Just make sure, no matter what you do, that you cover your weed fabric with bright red mulch.

I mean super bright. Dyed artificial red cader. OHHH yeah.

Like 10 - 14" deep.



Weed fabric is really horrible. But, if you are seriously considering using it and haven't yet been dissuaded, I would suggest using a thick mulch over the top. Like bark chips. The thicker the pieces, the slower the decompisition rate. Therefore, you will retain your mulch longer and reduce the speed to which you "create" the soil above your fabric. Thick chunks will also have more space between them allowing for a better chance at the respiration tricky was speaking of.

Having been on the pulling out side of fabric and not on the installing of fabric, I can only say that it sucks. Not in the pleasant way either. It gets rooted in, it won't come out gracefully unless you don't want it to, and then it floats gently in the breeze where it has been hit with a trimmer, or pulled up a few inches by a curious child. If plastic has been used it can ( I had to remove this once) it can petrify leaving almost galsslike sheets under the soil that not only are a PITA but are unsafe.

Finally, John K, the arguments FOR weed fabric are few. The arguments against are many. Pre-emergents are the most successful in my opinion, and the safest to the desired plant material. I only hope that if you continue to install fabric, that you end up being the contractor that gets called back to remove it later on. I am confident that if you have to remove it a few times you will change your opinion. Its fine if you don't but I just hope for the rest of our sakes we don't have to remove your fabric.

[Raj Venugopal]

I hate fabric.

It's crap.

We did a bed reno last month involving pulling out geotex that some moron used as fabric. Not fun.

Whether it's the quality stuff or not, we've experienced the same as many of you...weeds aren't fazed by the stuff. At least with mulch or even stone bedding weeds are easily plucked out by hand, rather than their roots getting all knitted into the fabric fibres.

Years ago we "invested" in top of the line fabric for our place...

Ripped it out a few weekends ago. The problem....? You guessed it....

Crap.

I hate fabric.

Raj

[sleepy]

.

[sleepy]

this is the site prep and bender board in.

[sleepy]

now plants and irrigation

[sleepy]

fabric time

[sleepy]

got bark?

[sleepy]

finished

[stoneridge]

I hope the client insisted you put the fabric down.

[sleepy]

yup, he didnt want to weed that much.

[VoodooChile]

sleepy,
What's with the board? Is that temporary or permenant? Treated, if it is staying? How did your guys manage to get the wheelbarrows into the bed over that (6"?) board.

Never seen bed/lawn prep done like that but it looks real slick.

I'm guessing your client won't do much weeding the first few years, and what follows will depend on controlling external weed pressures, or seeding in from outside sources. Keep a handle on that, and the fabric should serve him well for quite a while...but I hate the stuff too.