How to Use Woven Ground Cover for a Weed-Free Garden

Are you tired of spending hours weeding your garden every week? Woven ground cover will help you to control weeds. Woven ground cover is a type of plastic that is approved for organic gardening. It is designed to allow both water and air to pass through. In this post, we’ll show you how you can use woven ground cover to create your dream weed-free garden.

Step 1: Preparation is key

Before you lay down any kind of woven ground cover, you need to prepare your space.

First till the soil. Tilling will aerate and uncompact your soil but will also kill the soil food web. The web will eventually rebuild itself once you cover it with material, but you are disturbing the natural microorganisms that live in your soil.

Now is also the time to add amendments, fertilizers or compost.

It’s important to wait a few days to let the soil settle after tilling. The best way to let the soil settle is to first wait for a decent rain event, then let it dry out a bit. Waiting for rain will allow you to avoid any issues with the fabric sinking into the fluffy soil. This will also let the staples hold the fabric in place much easier.

Step 2: Lay Down the Woven Ground Cover

Woven ground cover comes in strips or rows that are three feet wide. The strips can be connected by overlapping them. Don't overlap them by more than by six inches or you will be wasting material. Next, pound landscape stakes to secure the fabric to the ground.

You can burn through the fabric with a torch to create holes. Keep a hose nearby in case something goes wrong. Use the holes to to plant your garden plants. Burning the fabric will seal off the plastic. Burning will preventing it from unraveling or fraying. You can use a sharp blade to cut our holes, but you will fray the material and ultimately get shorter lifespan for the fabric.

Step 3: Plant Your Garden

Once you put the woven ground cover is in place, you can now plant your garden. The ground cover will retain moisture. It will also keep the soil cooler, similar to the way a heavy mulching would work. For you, this means less evaporation and therefore less need for watering. 

Step 4: Maintenance

The biggest mistake most gardeners make is leaving open spaces between the two pieces of plastic.

As you might imagine, this is where the weeds will start growing. These spaces between the pieces of plastic, will make it difficult for you to weed and maintain your garden.

Using woven ground cover is the best way to control weeds. I would highly recommend giving woven ground cover a try. Woven ground cover is an investment that will last for years, so it’s well worth the effort to get it right.