Mulch will be here next week. I’m mulching up to the house and making a walkway to the right of the barrier. I do not like having the sidewalk where it is.
by signofthecrow1
Mulch will be here next week. I’m mulching up to the house and making a walkway to the right of the barrier. I do not like having the sidewalk where it is.
by signofthecrow1
13 Comments
This is not the way to do it, you need to put down cardboard than wood chips. The weed barrier will be there forever and create a huge mess.. I would remove it
Another thing you can do is flip over the sod and plant in that soil, or put down black plastic to kill all the grass then remove it and plant in that soil
Do not torment yourself with that barrier. It is horrible later.
I’d leave that weed barrier like it is for a month to solarize the soil, then throw it in the trash. It’s not going to help you long term.
I would get some plug trays and start your Indian grass there, then plug the area when they’re a couple of months old. Native grasses are not very competitive against weeds from seed IME.
I agree with the previous commenter, the weed barrier is not actually helpful, it just has good marketing. If you can get a bunch of cardboard for that area and wet it down that would be ideal. Leave it for a week or two and rip the grass out of where you want to plant.
That’s a relatively small area. I’d just dig up the sod and weed vigilantly as the summer proceeds. There’s not a lot of love for weed barrier on this sub
Ugh don’t plant that weed barrier. Those things suck and they don’t work in the end.
Thank you to everyone! Luckily I work at a job where I have access to lots of cardboard boxes! I’ll bring home enough next week to replace the weed barrier!
Congrats on your new native plant journey ! As most have said the weed barrier will haunt your dreams 😂 No one warned me and I spent two years trying to get rid of it all. Cardboard and wood chips will work so much better ! When I started with native grasses I bought plugs from a local nursery. It worked great !
1) remove weed barrier
As the other commenter said, please skip the weed barrier. Based on how high the soil is to the sidewalk I would recommend to remove the sod and use it somewhere else in the yard. You can then mulch the area so it is an inch or so below the level of the sidewalk. Then you can plant the Indian grass.
You’ll regret using that weed barrier. Everyone who’s ever tried, has. Planting prep is pretty important. I’d do a little research before you jump in. Maybe start your seeds in some pots or trays, while you do prep. Maybe got to a native plant society meeting nearby, learn from others.
Friend, i totally get how the box stores try to sell you weed fabric, but that stuff will just cause more problems over time than it solves. It doesn’t prevent weeds. You’ll have a harder time getting the garden established and maintaining it. Cardboard works better because it smothers the seed bed and then degrades, and you’ll have minimal maintenance. Without the weed barrier the grass can get naturally established and hardy. You can cut out holes i the cardboard for plugs and then put the mulch over it.