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lori_ny

The old fashioned plastic weed barrier

lori_ny
12 years ago

Is there anything wrong with the old style kind of plastic? (The kind that has no holes for light and water to get through.)

I laid some modern plastic down in the walkways in the garden. I was surprised this Fall to see my dirt under them is dry, rock-hard, pale pink clay still. I had laid down solid plastic many years ago in a flower bed. The earth underneath turned dark brown and became rich from worm activity in 1 season.

I am wondering if it would be okay to use the solid plastic next year on the walkways so that the worms have a better place to live. (where the veggies are grown, there is no plastic. It's only between the rows in my 125 foot garden.)

Thank you,

Lori

Comments (4)

  • darth_weeder
    12 years ago

    I'm not a fan of plastic either new or old, and I'm confused about how you could have created the results you had with one and not the other.
    My guess would be that there has to be other factors involved.

    Ijust mulch my garden with leaves, hay or straw.
    Sorry I couldn't be of any help.

  • Kimmsr
    12 years ago

    Plastic as a rule does not allow the soil under it to breath, there is no air exchange necessary for a soil to be healthy. Plastic can also keep water from getting to that soil. Plastic is also made from non renewable resources and for that reason alone is not something you should want to use for a "weed" barrier, but it is not good for the soil as well.

  • drmbear Cherry
    12 years ago

    I've pretty much decided not to use anything in my garden that doesn't decay away. The previous owner of my house used a white gravel mulch in the gardens years ago, and now years later it is a disaster. The mulch is long ago covered, but it is about impossible to do anything in these beds that doesn't involve buckets full of rocks in the soil. I've pulled out lots and lots of that stupid landscape fabric out of yards in the past. I use a chipped wood mulch available free from the county in pathways and around borders of flower beds. Not many weeds work their way into this mulch, but what does is easy to kill (vinegar, burning, digging, or if persistent something stronger). And ultimately the soil is getting better as this mulch breaks down.

  • hortster
    12 years ago

    I agree with kimmsr, plastic (usually visqueen) does not allow air and water to penetrate the soil, thus preventing any biodegradation of organic material as darth weeder indicated by saying that it should have been the other way around. Plastic has nothing to do with worm activity, decaying organic material does. Mulches are much better, even if you have to replace some annually. Plastic eventually hardens, cracks and shatters, and is a PITA to get out of the soil at some point down the road.
    hortster

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