Re: Convolvulus arvensis and cardboard / newspaper

Another option is to put the cloth right above the soil and cover it with the mulch of your choice to hide it. As a result you'll get a completely weed-free bed. The only inconvenience is that the mulch isn't incorporated properly into the soil as it decays (in the case of organic mulches). Besides that, works great with tough weeds like bermuda grass.

Fran de la Mota
Miraflores de la Sierra, Madrid, Spain


----- Original Message ----- From: "susannah" <susannah@cyber-dyne.com>
To: <medit-plants@ucdavis.edu>
Sent: Saturday, January 07, 2006 5:55 AM
Subject: Convolvulus arvensis and cardboard / newspaper


Hello folks,

You all were awfully kind to me with advice 2 years ago when I posted about having purchased a place infested with bindweed. Several possible ways of treating it were discussed, and I settled on having the top layer of soil excavated and replaced, as we were doing constuction on the site anyway. It did help -- though not as complete an eradication as I'd hoped, the seedbank and roots seem to be significantly diminished.

My garden plants have been waiting patiently in containers for 2 years while the yard was full of bulldozers and lumber, and are now eager to go into the ground. My plan is to have high (24-inch) raised beds, with gravel paths in between. (The high beds are for drainage; I won't bore you with the details.) I'll put "contractor-grade" weed barrier fabric under the gravel and the rock walls surrounding the beds to keep the bindweed from coming up.

I'm trying to figure out what to put under the soil inside the beds. I could use the same barrier fabric, which should work well (I hope!), but that will prevent the larger plants from growing deeper for water. These beds will be wide, as well as deep, and some of the plants will be large-growing cistus, sagebrush, and others that will likely want to dig. Another option would be to use multiple layers of cardboard or newspaper. This has worked well for me in lawns, but has anyone here tried it with C. arvensis? I'm frightened!

Thanks much for any responses,

-- Susannah














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