Quite a while ago now, I was asked to review Weed Control Fabric from DIY Matters, but what with the freezing cold snap and the following floods, my garden really hasn't been in a fit state for ANY projects, in fact the clay soil was a quagmire for weeks, sucking in anyone who dared to enter it upto their knees - not pleasant!
But eventually I managed to crack on and get the weed control fabric down in the oriental area of the garden, which I admit, needed LOTS of TLC as the winter had not been kind to it this year, and as it was Dads creation, I wanted to get it looking tip-top again.
So this is what it was looking like before, as I said, in need of some attention!! I luckily had help heaving the massive pots of bamboo off the space, you may also notice the hole made by the badger in the woven fence, good job Mollie hadn't spotted that particular escape route!
My first job was to attack the floor, which did have bark on it for quite a number of years, but it had all rotted down and left a lumpy, grassy mess! I got stuck in and cleared out all the moss and dead leaves and levelled it out as best I could, my wellingtons were so encased in mud by the end, they resembled divers boots, but it's ok, they weren't my new Hunters! ;)
I then trimmed all the grass that had grown over the log roll, and began laying out the fabric with bricks to hold it in place. My main challenge was the area is on a curve, so I had to use overlapping layers to achieve the shape i wanted, but it did fix around the log roll smoothly. The fabric has handy green lines to provide a guide to check your laying it straight, but my particular project shape meant I had to use some creativity! Because it was the heavy duty version of fabric, it was certainly harder for me to cut than other versions i've used previously, so i admit there were a few frayed edges until I went to fetch a brand new blade, but what is it they say about workmen blaming their tools? It states clearly "This durable woven ground fabric has 5 times the tensile strength of an equal weight spun bonded landscape fabric, It’s unique open woven design lets water and nutrients through to your plants whilst suppressing the growth of weeds" - so it's worth a little extra effort! Once fixed in place, it held down well, with no annoying air pockets or lumps, I'd say it took me about 20-30 min to measure, lay and secure it, no time at all compared to all the prep that tired me out!
So this is how it was looking! (I also temporarily blocked up that badger hole, new fence on the way!) I then covered it with a new layer of bark, 7 bags in total as I thought no point scrimping after all that!
And this is the result, MUCH improved eh? It still has some improvements to go, the clematis needs to grow up the trellis, and a new willow fence needs to be put in, but it's a good start!
Two weeks later, and there's been no sign of weeds poking through, and the bark looks much better now it's been settled. I can now feel at least one part of the garden isn't looking like a building site!!
I would give the fabric an 8/10, it was certainly perfectly easy to lay in place and felt a very sturdy quality, but you need to be confident when cutting it or you start unravelling! Thank you to DIY Matters for getting in touch! Do pop over to their website and Twitter to see their spring/summer ideas!
Thanks for reading!
Katie
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