I'm setting up 8 x 4 ft raised vegetable garden beds that are 18 inches deep in an area previously overwhelmed by weeds like dandelions, horsetail, and blackberries. I've managed to clear most of the brush and I'll be putting down hardware cloth to stop burrowing pests and lining the bottom with cardboard. However, I'm a bit uncertain about whether to use landscape fabric as well, since opinions seem to vary widely. Given the heavy weed pressure, what do you all think?
1 Answer
Honestly, you might not need the landscape fabric at all. The hardware cloth is solid for pest control, and the cardboard should help. With your beds being 18 inches deep, I don't think the weeds will poke through. Just keep an eye on the surrounding area; that's where the real challenges will come from.
Totally agree! For the area around the beds, using cardboard along with some hardwood mulch works great to suppress additional weeds. Inside the bed, as long as you keep the gear on point with the hardware cloth and cardboard, you should be fine even in tricky spots like where ivy or other invasive plants were!