Building Garden Beds on Weed territory

[Tommyj]

Hi,

I am planning on building some garden beds at the back of my garden which is a bit of a weed hotspot. I was wondering if I need to line the inside of my beds with a membrane to stop the weeds coming through or whether this is unnecessary ?

Any tips/ advice would be great

 

[Twigs]

I would not recommend membrane or fabric—maybe a lair of newspaper or a thick lair of leaves so your plants roots can grow thru easily.
Weed spread has many factors...it could depend upon height of the raised beds...mine are 17inch tall. Nothing grows in or creeps over. I have seed spread only...mostly by wind or birds. I may have pulled around 8-weeds so far this season.
Edging height and depth. Let’s say you use cedar/plastic 1x6...1-inch down and 5-inch above ground, weeds/grass can grow under and easily spread/seed over.
A healthy way to control weeds is to prevent seeding...mowing them down. It’s better than poison and less work than pulling.
I recommend stripping the top 2-inches of ground/growth wherever you build your beds to reduce weed and grass issues later. Mulching straw or hay around the plants also keeps weeds from spreading.

 

[Tetters]

Hello @Tommyj , welcome to the forums I'm not really sure what kind of beds you mean, nor why you need to build them. It would help if you could give a bit more info. Is there a reason you cannot just dig over and weed the garden space you have and plant it as it is? Are we talking about ornamental beds, or raised beds for veggies?
I have built raised beds in my place on a very hefty concrete base, which would have been impossible for me to shift. This seemed to be my only option apart from loads of pots. In my case, I lined the beds with a weed membrane, which kept the soil/compost intact. I also had to add a lot of drainage as the base was just concrete. SO... a bit more information would be helpful - even a photo or two if you could

 

[Oliver Buckle]

A healthy way to control weeds is to prevent seeding...mowing them down. It’s better than poison and less work than pulling.
I recommend stripping the top 2-inches of ground/growth wherever you build your beds to reduce weed and grass issues later.

There is also hoeing, over time it establishes a tilth on the soil surface which is as protective of warmth and moisture as a mulch. If you are going to strip the turf out roll it and stack it, by the time your soil level in the bed has dropped it will have rotted down to something just right for top dressing.

 

[Susan BBPM]

Hi,

I am planning on building some garden beds at the back of my garden which is a bit of a weed hotspot. I was wondering if I need to line the inside of my beds with a membrane to stop the weeds coming through or whether this is unnecessary ?

Any tips/ advice would be great

I don't have a lot of experience, but I would be dead against lining beds with anything that won't decompose.

I follow Charles Dowding's no dig approach with huge success.

Essentially, put down a layer or two of cardboard and dump a few bags of compost on top. Then plant! The vast majority of weeds are wiped out by this. The stubborn ones that remain can soon be eradicated by staying on top of weeding for a short period. They soon weaken and die.

The bigger issue I had was weeds working their way into the bed from the surrounding ground. We seem to have eliminated that easily by digging a narrow trench around each bed with a lawn edging tool. It only took half an hour to do and it really seems to work a treat.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

don't have a lot of experience, but I would be dead against lining beds with anything that won't decompose.

The problem I have found in the past is that they do decompose, but not completely. You get strings of plastic embedded in the soil, or plastic material which has gone brittle and breaks up when you try to remove it. turning it over and removing obvious roots and weeds will cope with most of what is now growing, the problem then is seed. You keep it damp they germinate, you hoe it over when they are still small and have not flowered, so no replacement of seeds. Keep it fallow and do that for a couple of times and you will have highlighted established weeds you missed in the first round as well as getting rid of a lot of accumulated seed.

 

[lifegardener]

The approaches mentioned here (sheet mulching techniques) are what will work best. The only digging to be done is digging holes, down into the mulch, to put your plants in. We used this approach on our entire front yard several years back, covering Saint Augustine Grass, and it worked beautifully.

 

[Tetters]

When I worked at the nursery, I learned not to close my mind to alternative ideas, and that the strong garden ground cover that you could buy was bad for some purposes, and really good for others.
This technique is something therefore I would not use on places like vegetable or flower gardens. as it tends to compact the soil too much, and makes it a much less friendly environment for the insects that depend on the soil.
We used this ultra strong cover for areas that would be permanent standing places for shrubs and trees in pots, and for this purpose it was ideal, and very much better than the more permanent idea of using the dreaded sand and cement as it could easily be lifted, rejuvenated, and returned (after some work) to its former glory.
However, when doing a job like lining a timber(say) raised bed of this kind - this fabric is just the job, as it helps to

protect the wood, and separates the wood from the soil quite well. It is then sturdier and longer lasting. It also makes a good barrier if pebbles or grit are used in the base to aid drainage. Cardboard (as an example) would simply disappear and act rather like an ash tray on a motorbike !!

 

[Oliver Buckle]

I learned not to close my mind to alternative ideas,

So true, there is always more than one way to do things, with different advantages and disadvantages.

However, when doing a job like lining a timber(say) raised bed of this kind - this fabric is just the job, as it helps to

protect the wood, and separates the wood from the soil quite well. It is then sturdier and longer lasting

If that is what you are looking for. If timber is available It can be good to make it part of the bed, a sort of sideways on hügelkultur