How to put down a Weed Mat

Weed mat is generally made of plastic or cloth. It works by stopping the supply of sunlight to the weeds, thereby killing them. A high-quality weed mat will suppress the growth of weeds, while at the same time providing enough drainage for the soil underneath so that it stays moist and nourished.
 
You can reduce the need for weeding by laying down a weed mat, also known as landscape fabric. Weeds have a difficult time penetrating the barrier, but water does not. Put down a weed mat on a calm day after you have prepared your soil.
Here are the steps on how to put down a weed mat:

1. Clear the garden area of debris and mulch. Pull as many weeds as possible. Leave the plants in place, if you have not yet planted your plants, do not do so until after laying the weed mat.
2. Unroll the weed mat on top of the garden area. lay it right over the top of your plants or flowers. For large plants, such as bushes or trees stop unrolling once you reach the trunks or stems. And using a sharp pair of scissors, cut the fabric off from the roll at these points, and at the end of each row.
3. Cut an X over the top of the smaller plants and fold back the triangles. Carefully slip the weed mat down to the ground, around each plant. Make the X’s larger as necessary.
4. Set the weed mat on the other side of a large plant and continue unrolling. Repeat for each row needed until you cover the entire bed. Then go back and custom fit the pieces of fabric on the sides of a large plant. Overlap edges by one-half inch. Cut the weed mat to shape around the curves.
5. Secure the weed mat at each corner with landscape anchors, weed mat pins, wire staples. Inserting them into the ground through the fabric using a hammer. For larger pieces, secure at the corners and every 3-5 feet.
6. Cut the X’s and fold back the triangles to reveal the soil when planting additional plants. Then cover the mat with mulch.

Tips:

• You can leave the folded triangles in place around the base each plant or you can cut them off.
• Use biodegradable weed mats if you are growing annuals. If you use a permanent weed mat with annuals it will become ineffective n a year or two as you cut through it repeatedly to replant your plants every year.

We hope that with the tips we provided helped you on how to put down a weed mat. At Nice Backyard, we supply and install Weed Mat Rolls, you can give us a call on (03) 9402 6483.