Plastic weed mat is a great product to use in your landscape beds to reduce weed infestation. Installing the proper landscape products from the get go will decrease the chances that weeds will appear in your landscape beds. If you have mulch beds, the best way to control weeds is with the use of a pre-emergent. Pre-emergents will create a barrier and give you a line of defense against weeds. Hand pulling new weeds or applying round-up products will also minimize the out break. Make sure that you pull any new weeds before they mature and have a chance to reproduce. After weeds reproduce, they are harder to get under control. It is better to stop the problem when it starts then to let it get out of hand. If left to mature, some weeds or sucker trees may actually choke out your plant material and over take it.
Install plastic weed mat before your rock.
If you are installing river rock products in your landscape, it is important to install a weed barrier between the dirt and the rock material. There are several types of products on the market to choose from. We use clear plastic weed mat for our landscape installations. Thicker mil products will work the best and have a lesser chance of tearing. We do not use fiber mat products unless they are requested because they tend to promote weed growth. Weeds will root into the fiber mat and cause your landscape to have an outbreak of weeds. Everyone has their opinion about what weed mat should be used, but with our years of experience fiber mat fails the most. Most every landscape bed that we replace has a fiber mat product installed by another contractor. The general idea about water flow with fiber mat vs plastic weed mat is just not true. When plastic weed mat is installed properly, plant material can get as much moisture as a fiber mat. The idea that plastic weed mat does not allow the plants to receive water, is simply not the case. Water will obviously not penetrate the plastic weed mat material, but the hole where the plant is installed will allow enough water for the plant to survive. Clear plastic weed mat is used because it will not stand out as much as black plastic weed mat if it is exposed. When installing plastic weed mat, make sure that you do not puncture or tear the material as this will allow weeds to invade your landscape.