Return to the Gardening with Stone Forum
| Post a Follow-Up
Plastic, fabric or neither
| | |
Posted by swflagrdnr 10 (My Page) on Fri, Feb 2, 07 at 12:21
My wife wants to put rock (walnut sized) in the landscape bed on the north side of our house. The bed is 10 X 10 or so and in full shade.
I wanted to just put the rock down on cleared dirt, but she is insiting on putting down plastic. I hate that. No matter how thick you lay the rock, the black plastic always works its way to the top and it makes plantoing anything a nightmare. Is landscape fabric any better?
She wants to put down this barrier because occasionally we get stinkhorn mushrooms in this area and its right by the front door. The mushrooms stink like carrion and are intolerable. A barrier such as plastic would almost certainly stifle the mushrooms, and possiblye even the fabric would too.
Could someone discuss the pros, cons and alternatives to plastic, fabric or nothing? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Plastic, fabric or neither
| | |
| Black plastic is impermeable. If you're going to be excavating the area and then filling it with stone, remember that if the soils immediately adjacent to the area you excavate are anything but really free-draining, the stone filled area may tend to hold water when it rains for. Whether or not that's better than what you have now depends on how fast the water drains away. And if it's in a fully shaded area, mildew and molds and other niceties may become problematic. Generally, water drains though most landscape fabrics. So, if you must line the area with something, go with fabric that is permeable. |
RE: Plastic, fabric or neither
| | |
| I agree with you. That black plastic is going to show up anyway and as dirt collects between the crevices of the rock you'll get your unwanted weeds anyway growing on top of the plastic (plus no drainage). I would definitely just put it on dirt. Landscape fabric and plastic are worthless. I don't think the mushrooms will be a problem with rock as they develop on decaying organic material, not rock (if you put down bark mulch that might invite them). As for weeds you can either pull them as they come or apply a preemergent in the late winter/ early spring . |
|
|
|
|
