Weed Cloth vs Black Plastic

Which should I put under my containers weed cloth or black plastic or does it matter? What do you like or dislike about using either one of these?
Thanks.

weed cloth lets the water through
black plastic does not.

Black plastic mulch stronger and much more expensive and would be best to use. Unless you spray weed killer under the weed cloth the weeds will push up the cloth. The black plastic stays in place and allows no growth underneath. That is why the professionals use it. Try it each way if you wish and see for yourself. Wish I could afford to use it as it costs about $5 a running foot but it is six feet wide.
If you decide on weed cloth buy the Dupont. A 3' x 50' cost about $15 but you will also need the staples to hold it down and tha t costs about $10 for 25 heavy duty garden staples. Only Lowes carries the Dupont brand but Home Depot has the plastic that they custom cut as you need. Their brand of weed cloth is far inferior and tears easily! This I know from experience.

Couldn't you just use black trash bags? Held down by little rocks?

No! They are not strong enough especially when continously walked upon. I just bought a 6' X 50' Dupont roll with a fifteen year guarantee for $24 and is specifically for that purpose. I'll show you pictures after I place it. Perhaps tomorrow.

Walked on? Oops, sorry, I thought we were talking about little EB's.

Yes, good materials make good projects!

I missed the "UNDER my containers" Dummie me! I'd prefer poured concrete five inches thick, haha but for true.

Molamola -- Once you place the weed cloth and space your EBs on them you need to have aisles to walk by to maintain an pick the fruit. Besides that can you imagine the inconvenience of mowing and weeding the uncovered area. Don't forget I'm talking about twenty EBs placed five to the row and spaced three feet apart with a five foot walkway between to allow for comfortable watering and picking of veggies. This also prevents mowing in tight spaces.

I guess I am still confused. A self contained box garden..is this not like a window box.....or some kind of small contained garden with pots big and small? That is why I referred to the fact that you need to consider permeability.. - you wouldn't want the pots sitting in water on plastic.. What walking is being done?

They weigh 60 lbs when full. Far to heavy to be a window box. Refer to www.earthbox.com for a better description?

As always excellent advice.


This message was edited Oct 24, 2008 8:16 PM