weed control membrane!?

[phil123]

Hi guys,

 

Just thought id share this with you as I'm gutted and pissed off..

 

A couple of months ago I completed my first large job (I only started my business in May this year) a total garden re-design and makeover, part of the job to reduce maintenance for the customer was to remove the grass and plants and lay 20mm shingle. I removed all the grass and dug all the plants and bulbs up etc, laid a tough weed control membrane (from weed fabric direct) pegged it all down and laid the the stones on top.

 

2 months later the customer calls saying theres weeds all over her garden, I went round to have a look and there everywhere!! growing straight up through the membrane like it didn't even exist!! all types of weeds too :confused1:

 

have I done something wrong in my process? it looks to me like the fabric is crap! even though its sold as their toughest fabric!?

 

what fabric do you guys use? and what would you do in this situation?

 

I've emailed them with pictures and they have offered me a refund for the fabric but that is all..... is my only option to lift it all and do it all again? :crying:

 

Thanks for any help and advice, Phil.

 

 

 

[SAM66S]

Did you spray the area with weedkiller before?

[Kev Stephenson]

Glyphosate based weed killer then pick out the dead. Repeat after 10 days. The membrane will stop the seeds getting to the soil to germinate but any seeds you may have missed during the stripping of the land will, as you see, germinate and push through anything. Just think about all the crap growing through tarmac.

[miker]

if that is acanthus in the second picture,nuclear war wont stop it, third picture looks like onion grass,little bulbs that seem to grow through anything, i feel your pain

This has happened to me

[easy-lift guy]

Sadly you were sold a bill of goods. Although the material that you used could have worked under perfect conditions, your situation was not only perfect but is repeated thousands of times a day all over the US. In the past a soul sterilent would be a better starting point, however since the environmental wackos successfully lobbied to have this great product banned I know of no examples where weed barrier or fabric has any redeeming qualities,

much like tree wound dressing!. Sadly your in a catch 22 and removing all of the fabric and starting over is not an option. By next spring you will have all kinds of material growing on top of the fabric you purchased. I hope your into this job for the long haul since your only two options include spraying monthly or weekly during the growing season or refund the customer their money and write off the job. Sadly this job will be one you will never forget or hopefully repeat.

easy-lift guy

[Haironyourchest]

Id say if you hit them with roundup a couple of times theres a good chance the problem will resolve itself. Plants need light to grow, the weeds that are coming up are running on energy stored in their roots/bulbs. Once the roots are dead its over, but organic material will eventually accumulate in the gravel and seeds will germinate in it, so the gravel will eventually become like a layer of soil anyway. It will need spraying a couple of time per year no matter what - that would have always been the case anyway.

[Bogoak]

Id say if you hit them with roundup a couple of times theres a good chance the problem will resolve itself. Plants need light to grow, the weeds that are coming up are running on energy stored in their roots/bulbs. Once the roots are dead its over, but organic material will eventually accumulate in the gravel and seeds will germinate in it, so the gravel will eventually become like a layer of soil anyway. It will need spraying a couple of time per year no matter what - that would have always been the case anyway.

 

Is the right answer.

[TonyIOM]

Hi, you need to use a membrane with spun fibres not the woven stuff which as demonstrated is very easy for weeds to push through. I used Terram1000 which is also used a ground stabilisation/soil separation layer. You can buy it 4.5m x100m rolls - its around £150.

 

There are other spun membranes on the market which are available in smaller quantities.

 

I recommend you shovel it all up or if space, pull the membrane and gravel to one side, lay the Terram and then replace the stones. Make sure your future quotes refer to the material as weed suppressing not weed proofing.

 

Good luck!

[easy-lift guy]

Hi, you need to use a membrane with spun fibres not the woven stuff which as demonstrated is very easy for weeds to push through. I used Terram1000 which is also used a ground stabilisation/soil separation layer. You can buy it 4.5m x100m rolls - its around £150.

 

There are other spun membranes on the market which are available in smaller quantities.

 

I recommend you shovel it all up or if space, pull the membrane and gravel to one side, lay the Terram and then replace the stones. Make sure your future quotes refer to the material as weed suppressing not weed proofing.

 

Good luck!

 

How will your suggestion prevent any and all seeds from germinating on top of any fabric woven, spun or otherwise?. Continued use of herbicides for the duration of the the business relationship with the customer will be the order of the day. No way to avoid the consequences from using any material on the market.

easy-lift guy

[TonyIOM]

How will your suggestion prevent any and all seeds from germinating on top of any fabric woven, spun or otherwise?. Continued use of herbicides for the duration of the the business relationship with the customer will be the order of the day. No way to avoid the consequences from using any material on the market.

easy-lift guy

 

It won't and I never suggested it would. However the Terram creates a harsh environment for the weed seeds to propagate as their roots cannot penetrate it into the soil where the moisture and nutrients are.

 

The future consequences are not a concern for the OP provided he states his terms clearly on any quotes. However in this case he did not use the spun material that his supplier offers and used a ground cover fabric which is not designed to prevent weeds coming up.

 

The OP should explain to the customer that he was supplied the wrong product, he should lift and replace with a spun product and explain that it is a weed suppressing not eliminating product. He should also state that the new fabric or any fabric for that matter cannot prevent weeds from appearing, just making it harder for them to do so.