by: Steve Boulden
Landscaping fabrics are by no means an answer to a no maintenance landscape. I know a lot of folks are under the impression that they can simply buy it, place it, cover it, and forget it. Forever.
First. There is no such thing as a no maintenance landscape. In many instances landscape fabric can make your life a lot easier. However, there is an upside and a downside to using it. And as with most everything else, proper installation and maintenance is required if you intend to use it.
Also, keep in mind that I'm referring to professional quality grade materials and not the flimsy products sold in do it yourself and home centers. If you're going to use that, you might as well use newspapers or cardboard boxes under your groundcover.
Landscape fabrics have their applications. They aren?t necessary in all applications but might be preferred
in regards to the type of groundcover you use.
Our company uses landscape fabric in 95% of the designs we create. It?s the nature of our business as we use decorative rock as the preferred groundcover around here. When using rock for groundcover and path work, it?s necessary to have a separator between the soil and groundcover. Otherwise, you?ll have mud rocks by the first rain storm.
In theory you should be able to use almost anything as a separator. I?ve seen do it yourselfers use anything from plastics to newspapers and cardboard boxes to old carpet remnants. Of course, as a professional, I can?t use or even suggest something like this to my clients. You?re on your own there.
Now personally, on any given project, I would much rather do away with fabrics altogether. I prefer to create living soil planting areas that are mulched and tended rather than being covered and forgotten.
However, some areas are simply too large to apply this method and some folks just outright prefer to cover an area with decorative rock.
Both mulched living beds and rock beds underlain with fabric will require some work to keep them beautiful. Neither is maintenance free. As long as there is wind, rain dirt, and blown in seed, there will be something for you to do in your yard.
When we create a design using landscaping fabric and rock, I make the client aware of a few things. 1) There will be blown in seed and dirt. 2) Something will have to be done about it to keep it from accumulating. I assure them that with the quality of fabric we use, nothing will grow in from the bottom. However, we have no control of what blows in on the top.
Spraying the unwanted weeds with herbicide will take care of the weed problem. However, this does nothing for the dirt, leaf, and plant particles that are hiding under your rocks. And if you allow these to accumulate, they?ll continue to accumulate and you will never get rid of them. So periodic maintenance is required even if you do use landscaping fabric.
Periodically using a blower to clear out your bedding areas will slow down the accumulation of dirt and in some cases eliminate it altogether. How easy and thorough this is depends a lot on the type and size of rock you use.
Small pea gravel accumulates and holds onto dirt, and is harder to clean than rock of a 1 ?"
nature. Not only does it hold onto dirt but has a tendency to be blown all around when being cleaned with a blower. Pea gravel works well for paths, walkways, and smaller areas but I don?t recommend it for covering larger areas.
As far as using landscape fabric under bark and mulch covered beds?
In many cases this can actually be easier to take care of than living beds or rock covered areas as it can easily be picked up and replaced every few years. This will keep your landscape always looking new without having to blow dirt or mulch beds.
Remember. There?s no such thing as a no maintenance landscape. Landscape fabrics can make things easier in many applications but like everything else, they require a little bit of keeping up. No, they aren?t necessary in all landscaping applications. However, I believe you?ll find them to be your best choice for many types of groundcover.
About The Author
Written by Steve Boulden.
steve@the-landscape-design-site.com
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Furniture Down The Ages
Furniture Down The Ages
by: Sintilia Miecevole
All the movable household articles of equipment fall under the category of furniture. Furniture can be made out of metal, plastic, wood, glass, or marble. Whether it is an ordinary pine chest, country chair, or an elaborate ornamental cabinet, all are included in the wide range of furniture. Furniture is a decorative item that serves a purpose. Therefore it can be treated both as an item of necessity and luxury. Moreover, furniture is not restricted to the common stuffs like bed, chair and table only. In fact, other home furnishing materials like rugs, lamps, and mirrors etc are also counted as furniture.
The style of furniture has been changing as civilization has progressed. Various techniques of inlaying, woodcarving, painting, veneering, gilding and marquetry have been used to decorate furniture and make it look attractive. Furniture in the western culture is embellished in the styles followed...
Furniture Down The Ages
Beds > Furniture Down The Ages
Getting the Best Price for Your Home Includes Landscaping for Curb Appeal
Getting the Best Price for Your Home Includes Landscaping for Curb Appeal
by: Michael McGroarty
You are welcome to use this article on your website or in your newsletter as long as you reprint it as is, including the contact information at the end. Website URLs must be active links. You are welcome to use this article with an affiliate link, http://www.freeplants.com/resellers.htm
If you own a home, then sooner or later you are going to be ready to sell that home. Maybe you've already sold a home or two. People tend to move more often than our parents did.
There are a lot of things that go into getting the best possible price for your home, but the very first thing your home needs is curb appeal. When a prospective buyer, or a realtor for that matter, pulls up in front of your home, they immediately form an opinion about your house. Fair or not, that's what people do. You...
Getting the Best Price for Your Home Includes Landscaping for Curb Appeal
Beds > Getting the Best Price for Your Home Includes Landscaping for Curb Appeal
How Creating Curb Appeal Will Help You Selling Your Home
How Creating Curb Appeal Will Help You Selling Your Home
by: Susan Wong
You may not know and realize how important of curb appeal to your home. It is a common sense that if you have an attractive and clean home on the outside, this will make someone want to see the inside. This strategy is very useful when you are attempting to sell you home; great curb appeal is just as important as having a home show beautifully on the inside. If the outside is not clean this can deter a potential purchaser from even booking a showing to see your home, even though the interior could be spectacular.
It is better to get others? opinions in order to take an objective look at the outside of your property. To enhance the appearance of your home there are a few inexpensive things you can do. The most important consideration is the state of repair of the property. You must repair everything that needs repairing, which includes any cracked windows, broken railings,...
How Creating Curb Appeal Will Help You Selling Your Home
Beds > How Creating Curb Appeal Will Help You Selling Your Home