What began years ago as landscape cloth designed for vertical use behind boulder walls to keep soil from eroding through the wall has evolved into any number of weed barrier products that homeowners are.
Adding weed mat under flagstone.
The reason why it does provide a weed barrier but it also prevents the stone from sinking and disappearing into the soil below.
They seem to be setting just fine but i want to keep the weeds from growing in the dirt between the stones.
I have a flagstone patio and the stones are just laid on the dirt.
If you place weed mat or plastic under the stones and re fill the areas between in the gravel or soil weeds will eventually return even in that shallow area because dirt and weed seeds will get on the stones and wash into the gravel or soil.
Applying a two inch coat of mortar on top of plastic will function as a weed barrier with added weight.
We have had pretty good success with this method.
In fact ross nw watergardens typically uses it under these materials.
Mix 1 2 bag of type s mortar eight shovels of sand and three gallons of water.
It certainly does help with weeds but it also keep mud and aggregate.
Renegade gardener the lone voice of horticultural reason don t ever lay landscape cloth or weed barrier on the ground before planting.
This is where they come from.
For all that weed cloth does have a use.
Diy weed barrier under pavers.
However weeds will still grow from time to time especially as time goes on and the rock breaks down which takes quite a while and the debris gather from plants birds.
Several strategies will.
They can however arrive as wind blown seeds and germinate in the sand between the pavers.
Pulling the weeds that have sneaked through the narrow spaces between your garden path or patio pavers can give you a real pain in the neck.
Cardboard or newspaper can effectively suppress weed growth.
Using fabric or plastic as weed preventer under the pavers is a complete waste of time money and your sanity.
I would like to keep the natural look and do not want to mess with planting things i will need to water.
First weeds aren t going to come up through all that tamped base material.
This material also is readily available for recycling in the garden.
It may be bad under bark dust mulch soil or compost but it works very well under river rock gravel decomposed granite or flagstone.
While these materials work for the short term they do not work well for a permanent area of rocks.
When properly arranged and laid on top of a weed barrier it provides a.
Insidious how these product lines have grown.
Cardboard and newspapers degrade over a season or two and lose their weed suppression ability.
The mortar takes the place of mulch and provides a steady base onto which to set your stones.