I've used it several years with mostly positive results but on flat land. And even on flat land I've built level basins surrounded by a berm about 6 inches high. This allows flood irrigation and on those rare big rains I have no runoff.

On a slope one concern would be runoff. Any chance you could terrace the area before laying down the fabric?

If the fabric were covered with mulch that would largely solve the runoff issue but weeds might just get started in the mulch and grow right through. That would be more of an issue with tough perennials like Bermuda than with annual weeds.

I have knocked out Bermuda on mine with one spray roundup in September. And it was very aggressive Bermuda not the wimpy kind.

PS: I do blame the black weed barrier with reducing my chilling on apple and slowing their growth. You may get plenty of chilling.

This post was edited by fruitnut on Sun, May 11, 14 at 22:23

Thanks for the reply, that makes me feel better about doing it, knowing that it has worked for you. I definitely plan to mulch on top of the fabric. I haven't terraced the hill, but I have built up soil and leveled off a decent radius around each tree, so that the trunks enter the ground at 90 degree angles.

Around my yard, I mostly have to worry about the Mile-a-Minute Vine which attempts to climb and strangle everything in my garden every year. We moved into this house about 3 years ago and the hill was just completely covered with weeds and some tall grass. The fabric would be my best attempt to reboot the area and start fresh (except for the trees of course).

As long as I've lived here we've had WAY more than our fare share of chill hours and low temperatures. So I assume that won't be an issue.

I put in orchards in a lot of different areas, some of my customers call their weed patches meadows and so I have to manage trees with this competition and worry about killing native pollinators when weeds are in bloom in areas within reach of spray.

I often establish trees in such places with the addition of fabric covered with mulch- FN is absolutely right about the problem with runoff with straight fabric, especially the stronger woven kind. The trick with unmulched fabric is drip line hose under the fabric.

It is always better when establishing trees on a steep incline to do some terracing or create basins for each tree. This also helps the trees gather much more of the rain, mulched or unmulched, fabric or no. I'm talking about at least a 5' by 5' area for each tree.

In the northeast the problem with weeds establishing over fabric can usually be avoided if you lift the fabric every year and cover with new mulch. If weeds begin establishing by mid-summer they have little affect on the trees by that point anyway (except during severe drought, perhaps).

Of course, your other option is a weed whacker.

I use landscape fabric throughout my garden. It is the only way I can attempt to keep the weeds under control. My yard is mostly flat. I use a thin layer of wood chips on top of the fabric, that way the chips stay dryer and take longer to break down (broken down chips is what the weed seeds are sprouting in). It is still a pain to deal with the weeds or having to re-mulch everything but pulling the weeds out of a thin layer of mulch is far easier than pulling them out of the ground.

Another option is to plant something in the area to out compete the weeds.

I've had great results planting both buckwheat planted in springtime (grows fast, and flowers are great for pollinators) and with winter rye planted in early fall. An additional benefit is that the cover crop helps enrich the soil.