Planting through weed fabric

[treepixie]

Decided to plant through weed fabric this year to cut down on the weeding, if you plant through fabric do you have more problems with slugs?

If so how do you deal with them? is it just a case of more slug pellets under the fabric?

[kathyd]

I haven't found it any worse with fabric or without - we get inundated either way . I put some pellets under the fabric with vulnerable plants like brassicas, and also cover the plants with bottle cloches or use collars cut from bottles with serrated scissors until the plants are big enough to fend for themselves. Personally I find the reduction in weeding is worth any potential increase in slugs.

[Stan79]

No. No problems for me. Trying without fabric this year... just to see

[Valleyman]

The only thing I've found is that weed fabric hinders my attempts at controlling bindweed. It seems to spread laterally very fast under the fabric and pop up through every possible hole. It prevents the local digging out I do at the start of the season, so ends up coming through faster and more frequently.

Later in the season it then interferes with my pop bottle containment + glyphosate extermination method, as it's so close to the plants. And if I miss any the weed membrane acts as a road sign to all my plants and I then spend hours untangling them.

[Penellype]

As Valleyman says, weed fabric is not great for perennial weeds. We have a big couch grass problem at my friend's house, probably becasue the garden is next to a field. All the paths have weed fabric under tarmac chippings, and the couch grows straight through it. If anything it makes it harder to get rid of it, although it certainly keeps the paths from getting muddy and supresses the annual weeds. I'm trying weed fabric for the cabbages under the net this year as nets are a pain to weed under, but I've gone through the soil very thoroughly for over 12 months removing every bit of grass and thistle that grew. I bet I've missed some though!

[Stan79]

I have had the occasional rogue stinging nettle that shoots underneath it but it's generally pretty weak and anchored pretty weekly by its roots too so it pulls out quite easily. We took ages digging all the roots and weeds out so no real problems with more stubborn seeds.