Landscaping

» edbrunelle - Landscapers Cloth and the Garden

I'm getting a little confused about the use of landscapers cloth in the garden.

I can see the use of the cloth if I'm going to have an area (let's say 10x20 ft) covered with bark or stone mulch. The cloth should keep most of the weeds from coming up and the mulch should protect the cloth, a symbiotic relationship. In addition, I can cut out little areas to put in blooming plants.

Now what about an area where I want groundcover plants to spread. Wouldn't the cloth keep the plants from rooting and restrict the spread to the area where the cloth isn't?

What about tilling the soil around the plants to keep it from compacting (I'm in Phoenix, AZ where our ground is like cement)? It seems I would 1) have to move the mulch (which is covering the cloth, 2) cut the cloth to get to the ground to loosen, amend and fertilize it then 3) recover the whole area with the cloth and mulch only now I have a seam in the cloth for the weeds to enjoy.

Is it that the cloth is only used where you want a few defined plants and the rest is just mulched or what?

-- posted by edbrunelle