Weed abatement HELP!

[Beekissed]

I used discarded carpetting for under my gravel and it has been great so far. I'll see in the spring just how effective it's been. It has kept the gravel in place so far. It was free, it was thick and doesn't deteriorate too quickly.

 

[eggrookie2010]

WOW CARPET!? interesting....that would have been a super score to find enough to do my project!

 

[Beekissed]

I begged, borrowed and stole...not really...enough to do the whole area. We had taken out some from my house, one of my patient's had removed a large piece from a bedroom and someone else had a few rolls out with their trash...I stopped and asked for it.

Ask at any local carpet or flooring stoor....they take the carpeting out of people's homes and have to take it to the dump. They usually store it in a van or trailer until they get a good sized load before they drive it to the landfill.

 

[patandchickens]

I remain skeptical about carpet too to keep weeds out of gravel drives, BUT old carpet definitely works great to keep gravel from disappearing into the underlying soil. I had some old ugly shag carpeting we pulled out of this house when we moved in, that I used under the gravel we had put down in the horse shed, but there was only enough to do half the shed plus an area next to it. Well, you can REALLY see the difference (still, after 7 1/2 years) in how well the gravel pad is lasting!

(The carpet itself btw is largely gone... I have dug a coupla postholes thru that area in the past two years and there were some remnant reddish shreds but that's all. But its effects live on, at least so far )

Really, unless you are the type to get hung up about all them synthetic petrochemical fibers going into the soil (or the type to have lots of old wool rugs to use instead, I suppose), old carpeting is MARVELLOUS stuff for all kinds of outdoor purposes, paths, gardens, killing grass *for* gardens, mud, etc.

Pat