I would go cloth free, because you are going to end up picking some weeds out of the mulch whether you have cloth down or not...

I'm a fan of the stuff, but then I live in a very arid, windy climate where maintaining soil moisture is an ongoing problem. I have 5 to 10 tree mini - orchards around my 3 acres where the soil is appropriate. Those with black woven polypropylene weed barrier grow twice as fast.

That said, if you could put down a 6" deep layer of mulch, you'd get the same effect.

I always thought it was insane to not have the fabric, here in Colorado.

But after installing 150 yards of mulch into my back yard and living with it for two years ... and having done some areas with fabric and some without ... there is very little difference. If I had to choose, I would have saved the money I wasted on the good contractor-grade fabric. The areas with fabric was as bad or worse overall. In fact, the areas where I put rock over fabric are the worst. So I'll take plain mulch on the ground any day now.

In fact, the wind (in CO) carries in so much dirt and weed seed that all areas get compromised either way. The areas with fabric are actually more of a pain than the areas with nothing because the weeds are harder to remove when rooted in the fabric. Plus the mulch can deteriorate into the soil naturally without the fabric. Hand pulling weeds int the mulch (without fabric) is actually really easy ... and the entire root comes up every time.

I'd skip the fabric, do pre-emergent once or twice a summer and just be prepared to pull a few weeds and use lots of roundup as needed.

bunkers, you got 150 cubic yards of mulch? I wish I could get my hands on that kinds of stuff.

Whether to use some kind of barrier under any mulch depends on which "weeds" you have in the soil. Some, Thistles for example, will grow happily up through a 6 to 8 inch mulch depth unless something is put down to stop them. Over time any "weed" could be seeded in the mulch itself.

I don't use the landscape fabric under mulch, cause weeds grown into the fabric and it is a super pain to remove them. Instead, I put down newspaper (about 3 sheets) and it is great. Have to do it each year, but once it is down I have no extra work on that bed.

Personally I am against landscape fabric in just about all situations.

I used the black plastic type cloth with the tiny holes once on my clay soil in Portsmouth VA. 2 years later I pulled it up. The soil underneath was nothing but muck.
Swore I'd never use it again and I haven't.

Moved to new house where previous owners used the same black plastic stuff with holes. The stuff was dry rotted and came up in pieces. It was a mess. Reaffirmed my decision to never use the stuff.

I did use that other type of landscape fabric that is like a sheer veil type stuff around my central a/c/heating unit that I then put white stones over it. I don't want anything growing in that area. So far the only weeds to come up are at the seams against the house and the unit itself.

I am with the newspaper/paperbag/cardboard crowd. Easy, cheap (as in free), and actually adds to the soil. Love the stuff.

I have a melon patch exactly your size. I vote strongly in favor of the weed barrier-- it is a good pretector against disease as there is almost no soil spalsh up, and the melons lay on the mulched berrier--none lost this year to disease. Also easy to water. I have tried it both ways and the barrier method works better for me.

Kat dog turf,
Trying to understand ~ if you have to lay the newspaper/cardboard down every year, isn't that a lot of work to move all the mulch out of the way and then recover the paper? I am so grateful for this site and all the advice!! I was about to cover ALL of my flower beds with the LCloth. Wish I'd thought to check here first before doing the two I've done. Thanks everybody!

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, because I'm speaking more from recent research than experience, but the issue I see here is that the bark mulch will break down over time and create its own soil for weeds to grow in. So, it doesn't matter whether or not you lay the fabric; you're going to get weeds. (But they'll be easy to control thanks to the mulch.) In fact, the fabric would then become an annoyance if/when someone wants to do something different there.

I have heard that 3-4 inches of hardwood mulch can be a pretty effective barrier against weeds, thus making it even more pointless for to lay fabric.

I wanted to ask Kat dog turf above if it isn't a heck of a lot of work every year then, to move the mulch, and re-lay another layer of paper and recover again with the mulch?
Thanks!

I vote for free, permanent, mulches.

witeowl - Since I laid the mulch last year (with landscape cloth) not a weed to be seen. However, in an area where I didn't use the cloth and just 4-5 inches of mulch there are weeds galore growing up through the mulch. So, if you want to be weed free go with the cloth.

Annpat ~ what do you mean by free permanent mulches?

RE: At least 12 benefits are realized when using newspaper and cardboard approach to landscape covering in addition to applying it only once each season (11) and never having to ever remove it. (12) Plus its FREE!!! (13 = bakers dozen).

Prepare the dirt for planting. Mark row with a string and small stake at each end of the row so you will know where you intend for plants to grow. Make rows. Transplant or seed the garden rows. "Cover all areas" where a transplant or seed does not exist "with no less than 4 layers of newsprint up to within 1 inch of the plant or seeded rows" (do not cover seeds in rows or plants) .

"Top the newsprint with 6 inches of cut lawn grass." (Most neighbors just throw grass clippings in a garbage can, which begin to deteriorate and stink waiting for garbage collection day. Ask for their discarded clippings. They will be happy to be rid of them. Good idea to provide a container or wheelbarrow for them to empty their lawn mowing bag into. Have them put grass clipping filled container on the street, a signal for you to collect. Collect the same day from their property. Clippings are easiest to work with when freshly cut.)

After seedlings are up and thinning has been accomplished, you can fill in the 1 inch opening with the dry grass clippings to eliminate day light and exposure to direct air/airborne travelers-weeds. For most, the leaves and the expansion of the stem will take up most of the area and require no further attention depending on type and distance of crop.

BENEFITS 1.) Keeps out the weeds, 2.) Holds in the moisture longer 3.) Allows for rain or any type of water system above or below newspaper/grass clipping barrier which gently waters crop 4.) Forms airy barrier between the ground and the plant so fruit/vegetable never sits in water/dirt and rots, 5.) Grass will turn white/tan color providing a nice background contrast for the green plantings,6.) Any weed that happens to be green and is not purposefully planted will be easy to spot and pull, 7.) Grass clippings provides a nice mud-free walkway for your shoes/feet when harvesting AND does not allow for germination of airborne or shoe-tracked seeds 8.) News-print and grass clippings are both biodegradable, deteriorating slowly throughout the growing season 9.) Rototill ALL of the garden complete with any discarded plant parts (stems, roots, leaves, fruit... discarded there in the garden through out the growing season) ALONG WITH the original newsprint and dead grass clippings, back into the ground. 10.) All will continue to decompose throughout the remainder of the year enriching your garden with the nutrients of free mulch. Bonus reward: If you want to replant in an area where you harvested an early crop, later in the same season, it will be easy to pullup those roots and the ground will be weed-free. Til or hoe to prepare soil and replant.

Next season: repeat.

It is recommended by professionals to rotate the place where you planted crops the previous year. It helps to keep a diagram/photo/drawing to remember.

Hope this helps with your decision. After reading all of the posts, I decided to stay with this method. Terre

Using newspaper, or cardboard, as a base for mulching allows one to use less material overall, since the paper cover does the job of a thicker mulch, blocking a plants access to sunlight which all plants need to grow. Newspaper, or cardboard, as a base for mulch is not a magic elixir but is an additional aid for mulch.

An article in a fairly recent issue of Fine Gardening magazine about the results of a 9 year study of mulching by two Michigan State University researchers shows that mulches of 4 inch thickness do the best job of 1. aiding in suppressing unwanted plant growth, 2. aiding in soil moisture conservation, 3. aiding in soil temperature moderation, and 4. aiding in adding organic material to the soil. Newspaper, or cardboard, will help and allow using less material such as wood chips, shredded bark, shredded leaves, etc.

kimmq is kimmsr