[chefdrp]

there is this landscaper in my area that does great work. Its called Arrowwood landscaping. anyway, I love watching his work. He did a job that finished today that took like 3 days to do. It was a install of shrubs, few small trees, topsoil,and mulch that i saw. i did notice they put down fabric that i now have mixed feelings for. my main reason for this thread is to see if you agree with me. well the install is on a hill that is like 30 x 150 or more. i was wondering with all the rain and the sow we get up here how big of a chance that it will wash away? Mike does such nice work i would hate to see it ruined. the incline is just about 50° angle. I guesse only time will tell. What do you guys think without seeing it?

 

[pinnacle]

Nup

 

[work_it]

It's possible, but I haven't seen it happen around here. Why do you have mixed feelings about the fabric? I've had good results up to this point, but was thinking of doing something along the lines of upselling seasonal weed control instead, and offering it as a package deal with the lawn service.

 

[Green in Idaho]

Fabric for week control SUCKS!

I've never seen it work more than 2 seasons. Even THAT doesn't qualify as working since IT is not doing anything.

I rec. do not buy fabric, and spend that money on more mulch!

 

[chefdrp]

my feelings. There was a thread awile back about it and it made sense. you mulch then birds eat berries and then leave their s--- and now you have berry bushes growing. Joe next door has lots of weeds in his lawn. The wind blows the seeds in your mulch. get my dift?

 

[Green in Idaho]

No drift here.... try again.

 

[chefdrp]

oh yea, then there are the tree seedlings that fall. now you have little trees growing. fab sucks to me. just my opinion.

 

[work_it]

Thanks! Cleared that one right up! Just glad I asked.

 

[BRL]

Did a pruning job a couple of weeks ago & the husband had pulled up who I had never spoken to. I explained what we had done & that we were preparing an estimate for his wife for the weeds in the beds & adding mulch etc. He angrily stated "Can anything be done about the fabric? Don't put any fabric!" LOL He basically had a forests of weeds in some sections of the beds that he had been working on trying to pull out. But the fabric wasn't allowing him to pull them out. Frustrating situation I guess

 

[David Shaw]

I agree fabric sucks! It's a pain to plant in for one thing and it dosen't necessarily prevent weeds at all. Did some work for a lady last fall. She had to have fabric, put down bulk mulch. Guess what this spring there were weeds all over the place. Came up in the mulch.Dave

 

[Bitterroot]

Back to the initial question about mulch on a slope . I doubt it will last long up at the top . The fabric will cause the water
and or snow to build up above it and allow the Mulch to slide down . I have used large red fir shavings and the used fines over the top. The larger pieces tend to hold the smaller fines in place.

I hate fabric as well in any planted area . Around here the birds even use it to build nests . Then you have a bunch of fibers sticking up in the air. One customer who was a custom furniture maker said the fabric was the same stuff they staple onto the bottom of couches .

I like to use rock or a good well rooted ground cover on any slope . Another idea is to use cross draining V ditch to help on some of the slope.

Bitterroot Property Services
Hayden Lake , Idaho

 

[GLAN]

Pretty much the only time I use fabric is for stone/gravel

 

[chefdrp]

I actually talked to the landscaper today about it. He is kinda worried about it but will fix it if it happens. He did a sim. job and it did well. they just maintain them well he said.

 

[promower]

It works well with stone.