I found that the seedlings grew on top of the landscape frabric. It didn't take long for the mulch to break down a bit and then the seeds had a little "dirt" to get started in. I wouldn't waste your money on it. That's just me, let's see what the other say. :o)

Let me second Katkin's opinion of the landscape fabric. don't use it - you will regret it. I use wet newspaper and it works much much better. I don't think anything will stop weeds completely but the newspaper will at least biodegrade and is easy to replace. It's a bear to get the weeds out of that fabric.

~Betsy

ditto on the weed fabric- I think it's a total waste of $$$. In my experience, it actually makes weeding HARDER! The weeds do in fact continue to grow, except their roots get all tangled up in the fabric making them 10 times harder to get out. Same goes for your volunteers- they'll be near impossible to get out of the bed w/out totally damaging them. I control weeds in my beds by taking a lot of care to clear them completely to begin with, hand watering each plant instead of overhead sprinklers all over, and lots of patience. HTH

Naomi

If by "black mesh" you're describing thick ground cloth, save it for your pathways. I use it to prevent rocks from sinking over time. Weeds will still grow on top of it, but it provides a great barrier between river rock and dirt.

There's a thinner version made of compressed paper or rags that will prevent weeds from growing up but does nothing against wind or animal borne seeds. It does help overcome sandy soil though, as you can put it down and lay a foot of good topsoil over it to help with shrubs that need organic matter.

So they fabric is a bust huh? So what do I do for weeds.....I love being out in the garden but the weeds just seem to take over. Thanks the for the advice though guys....

want to keep the weeds out? use lots of mulch. sure you will have to pull weeds from time to time, but as time passes and the more mulch you put down, the less weeds you will have. when i started my beds i had a bunch of weeds, but as time went on, they started going away for the most part.

I put down wet newspaper (no shiny ads) instead of weedblock. I use 4-5 pages, overlapping as I go. If I have plants already in place I just put the paper around the stem or trunk. I had 2-3 neighbors saving their daily papers for me, they even put them in my shed. LOL Then I mulched heavily and watered well.

I guess I will have to get my neighbors to give me some newspapers....we dont get any....we get all our news from the internet :-)

I use wet newspaper, very thick and wet cardboard, like soda and beer 12 packs come in, especially in difficult areas. I lay a thin layer of sand or soil over the paper, coarboard to hold in place then mulch. It really works good. I used it the very grassy/weedy areas where I now have bananas and tomatoes planted. It doesn't STOP weeds completely, but it makes them more manageable, and if you want to add plants, groundcovers, seeds later, it's easy to poke openings in the paper to plant them. Fabric is a nightmare!!

I agree with all the above. At first when I didn't know any better, I used weed fabric. All kinds of weeds grew anyway and they are more difficult to pull because they've grown through the fabric. Now I use cardboard. I've been forced to order huge things from the internet so they are delivered in huge boxes but they really work great. I've had some cardboard down for a couple years and have had very little trouble. I've been taking up the fabric and Cindee is right, it is a nightmare.

I guess I'm the lone voice who likes the weed fabric. I happen to use both the wet newspaper and the weed fabric but in different circumstances.

The weed fabric I use in areas that I am not trying to grow anything but just eliminate weeds, ie: leeway between the street curb and my yard. Then I mulch the heck of it - 6-8 inches. It seems to help keep the mulch in place and I lose less of it to rain run off and have to replace less often. The combination of the two does indeed eliminate the weeds.

The wet newspaper approach I use in gardening areas due to the compost factor.

The weed fabric does not last forever and if you re-do the bed at some point, you need to replace the weed fabric.

What I'm scared to try right now, is either newspaper or weed fabric and mulch under my orange tree. I'm worried I'll kill my tree along with the weeds.

I actually like weed fabric for certain area. I have many many weeds and baby oaks and, with garden carpet and mulch, it goes a long way toward keeping them down. But yes, I have found that with plants that like to seed and make babies it is a drawback. However, what someone up the list said, the mulch does break down and dirt and sand from other areas does manage to get on top of the stuff, so you will get volunteers, though not as many.

We use "weed block" fabric everywhere np's with it, have used it for years at 3 diffrerent homes now in zone 10

Saintpfla --- Do not put anything around your citrus trees except fertilizer . Orange trees prefer naked sand . All citrus get root rot very easily . Check out what most commercial groves look like . Also check on the Citrus Forum here on the Garden Web if you have any other citrus questions . And never use that black fabric on any thing ! Augh ! Hideous stuff as it degrades .
If you really want a highly effective way to eliminate future weeds , try a product called Casoron . It prevents germination of seeds .

Ok so I've decided that after listening to all the advice on here that I will compromise :-) I will use the fabric...but only in the area under the hammock where I will never plant anything.....for the flower beds...just mulch :-) DH is the one who still wants to try the fabric....he doesn't trust you guys completely yet :-) ACtually thats not true but he was very excited about the fabric and the idea is still appealing to him....he says he just does not comprehend how it doesn't work :-)

We do all our own landscaping as we did when we built this home 12 yrs. ago, most plants, trees were tiny, weed block is underneath everything you see here, does it look like it has suffered?( plus few weeds)

Here is a link that might be useful:

I used weed block, and still have it in places, but I am not crazy about it. All the negatives that the above posters mentioned, I agree with
We tried it for pathways...weeds grew through it. Now, for pathways, we use pond underlayment - had some leftover from building a pond, and we loved the results. Nothing grows through it. We cover it with rubber mulch. Excellent results.
We do this only for walkways

Everywhere else - mulch, ground covers and lots of weeding by hand.
Olya

Susieq your yard looks very nice....I like the color of your house too....looks very tropical :-)

i vote with saintpfla... i use the fabric in areas that i don't plan on manipulating often -- big mulch beds where i plant some specimen plants. in the annual beds and gardens, newspapers with lots of mulch.

but the fabric is great stuff. definitely, in my experience, worth the hassle, worth the expense.

I've been very disappointed with the weed block fabric. This past summer/fall I put down newspaper and lots of mulch. Had some weeds come through and in pulling them out, wondered if it would work for me to put more paper down over the deteriorating mulch then another layer of mulch. I figure about the third time I do a double layer, I should have very little weed "grow-through". Any suggestions? cora