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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] Mulch/Landscapic fabric underneath fruit/nut trees and shrubs

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  • From: Matt Demmon <mdemmon@gmail.com>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Mulch/Landscapic fabric underneath fruit/nut trees and shrubs
  • Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2011 14:43:47 -0500

I'll jump on the anti-weedfabric bandwagon. In my day job as a
landscaper I've removed yards and yards of the stuff, and it's a total
pain. The weed blocking effect is only temporary, until the mulch on
top breaks down, and then you've just got a bunch of foreign material
in the soil, which is very hard to remove. And I don't care what they
say, it definitely interferes with water movement and soil
functioning. Best mulch is a thick layer of woodchips, or even better,
a thick layer of desirable plants which serve the function you want.
You don't have to replace those every couple of years.

-matt
z5 se MI

On Fri, Nov 11, 2011 at 12:47 PM, Monica Maggio
<arboretum@homeorchardsociety.org> wrote:
> I have had great success here at the Home Orchard Society Arboretum laying
> down several layers (we're talking 4-5 people, don't skimp) of stout
> cardboard then covering it with 3-4" of chipped woody debris. We use pallet
> liners which are 3.5x4.5' flat sheets of cardboard, no tape, no seams, no
> staples...we can get for free from a local brewery
> http://www.halbertmill.com/IndustrialPapers_PalletLiners3.jpg .
>
> Pile the cardboard 4-5 sheets thick with at least a 6" overlap between
> piles. Then throw that chipped debris on top, be generous with that too
> (but do not bury the tree's crown)!
>
> Did this in May along with fruit thinning on about a 1/2 acre of trees,
> only needs minor maintenance to pull out grass around the tree's base and
> where perhaps a seam didn't overlap well enough.
>
> Highly recommend this thick sheet mulch approach. Strongly discourage the
> use of anything plastic - it's expensive, possibly toxic, and at best only
> partially effective.
>
> Monica Maggio; manager
> Home Orchard Society Arboretum
> arboretum@homeorchardsociety.org
> www.homeorchardsociety.org
> 503-338-8479
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, Nov 11, 2011 at 9:18 AM, Dr. Lucky Pittman <
> lucky.pittman@murraystate.edu> wrote:
>
>> Steve,
>> I think you'll rue the day you ever used a synthetic landscaping fabric,
>> whether woven or not.
>> Yes, they allow water to penetrate, but every time I've ever had occasion
>> to
>> deal with that stuff, it looks like a desert underneath them - they don't
>> allow the soil microherd to do what it's supposed to do, with respect to
>> deep-cycling nutrients from the decomposing woody mulch placed on top of
>> the
>> fabric.
>> And, while it will 'block' germination of most weed seeds beneath the
>> fabric, roots of weed seedlings that germinate in the mulch layer on top
>> readily penetrate both woven/nonwoven fabrics, and become entangled in the
>> material, making it difficult to pull them out.
>>
>> Just put down several layers of newsprint, or a single layer of corrugated
>> cardboard, etc., than overlay that with your woody mulch material.
>>
>> Lucky
>>
>> Should I:
>> B. Use non-woven landscaping fabric and just cover it with a thin layer of
>> cedar wood chips (untreated), partially for aesthetic purposes.
>> If I go with the non-woven landscaping fabric, would 2.8 oz be good-enough,
>> or do I need 4 oz non-woven; or 3 oz./5 oz. woven?
>>
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