Many people seek alternatives to using chemicals to control weeds in their gardens. If you are growing fruits and vegetables to feed you and your family, you have to be extra careful with using chemicals to control weeds. There are numerous ways you can avoid using harmful chemicals like laying landscaping fabric to control weeds. Here is how you should lay landscaping fabric in your garden.
What You Will Need:
Choosing the Right Fabric
You should choose a professional-grade landscaping fabric to put down on your garden. Professional-grade landscaping fabric is a high-quality woven product that lets moisture seep through to keep the plants properly watered. Plastic and non-woven fabrics designed to control weeds are impervious to moisture and your plants may not get enough water to grow well. Black-colored fabrics are the best to use to prevent the weeds from germinating.
Prepare the Soil
Once the landscaping fabric is installed, it will prevent you from adding nutritional substances like composted organic wastes and manure into the soil to feed the plants—so these materials have to be added to the garden before you put down the fabric. Till the composted materials or manure into the soil, and then spread and smooth out the soil with a garden rake to remove any high spots.The mulching material you will be putting over the fabric will eventually slide off any high spots and expose the fabric—which will distract from the beauty of your garden and allow the fabric to be exposed to the sun. Also, make sure the soil is at least three inches lower than the lawn around the edges of the garden - this will give you enough room to place the right amount of mulch along the perimeter of the garden.
Installing the Fabric
Lay the fabric fuzzy side down over the garden. Cut generous holes in the fabric where you have to slide it over the top of plants—this keeps the fabric from settling into the soil next to the plants and damaging their root structures. You'll need to use landscaping pins to hold the fabric down. Place the pins about every inch along the edges and along the middle of the fabric. Cover the entire fabric with at least three inches of mulch to prevent it from getting exposed to the sun (the sun's rays can cause weeds to grow through the fabric). Rake the mulch to smooth it out and give it a nice even appearance to finish the job.
For more advice on controlling weeds in your lawn and garden, contact an expert from a company like Snyder's Weed Control.
Share30 March 2015
Even as a child, I was an indoor person. Despite the fact that I lived on a ranch and had a hundred acres of land to roam on, I preferred reading a book while sitting in the most comfortable recliner in my home. I’m referring to that soft, plush, and luxurious piece of furniture that you absolutely have to force yourself to get out of. When I became a homeowner, my primary quest was to find a suitable replacement for my childhood retreat. I researched, examined, and sat in numerous chairs before I finally found the one, the beautiful tan piece of furniture that I wanted to grow old with. On this blog, I want to share with others the importance of buying the perfect furniture items for your home, the ones you never will want to part with.
