Landscapers and gardeners, is there anything bad about using old carpet as weedcloth ?
Question:I took out my old carpet and decided to use it in my back yard, fenced area, because my flower beds are huge and very lush and love to grow weeds. The carpet seems to work so well especially between my dahlias and roses etc.to keep the weeds down but lets the water in. Are there bad things it might do to my plants. I am going to maybe cover it with bark if that sounds good ?? ideas from those who know not who guess ??
Answers:
I don't see any problem. Be careful with water though, it may create mold. I use old carpet in my greenhouse on top of the rocks to help insulate in the winter and keep weeds out in the summer.
I would think mold would be a problem. You could lay down layers of newspaper, and cover with mulch. The newspaper acts as a weed blocker, and is biodegradable.
I think it's possible that as that carpeting breaks down the chemicals may leach into the soil. I'm concerned also with fungal or bacterial growth.
I don't see it as being a problem. Here's what happened to me though. I had a small piece of carpet on my garden path to keep the weeds from growing but instead as the weeds grew all around they completely enveloped the carpet, growing up through it and all. It was such a mess by then and I was sick of the weeds intertwined through the fibers that I got rid of it and it was real hard work getting it out.
Try not to use old carpet as weed repellent apart from the weeds actually growing through it over a period of time they do create harm full toxins as they break down . The backing on a carpet is full of chemicals even one,s with no rubber backing .A far better alternate is bark chipping ,weed it before you put the chipping down and keep topping it up yearly .This works well i have a largish garden and very rarely weed . It also has a added benefit as it brakes down of the birds eating the bugs so is very environmentally sound .
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