Response to Plastic mulch vs. landscape cloth?

Kathy, I'm with you. Black plastic eventually rips and cracks and just doesn't ease my workload enough. And I happen to think it looks ugly in the garden. I use layers of chicken bedding, newspaper, old hay and soil to build a new bed. I usually build up the new bed in the fall so it will rot and settle over the winter. By Spring, I can plant without worries over it being too hot. Bonus to this is that I do not double dig anymore, I just start layering over the sod, which breaks down with time. All of this means less work in the long run. Weed control is easy since I add new layers each fall to build the bed and seeds are buried well and composted, or if that isn't the case, it sure is easy to pull the few out come growing season. Check out the book "Edible Landscaping". There's also one called "Lasagna Gardening" which I haven't read but covers the same principles.

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