Okay, you've successfully installed a weed barrier in your planting bed, covering it with mulch. But with the landscape fabric and mulch in the way, what do you do when it's time to install a plant?
After laying down such an effective weed barrier, it almost seems a shame to have to puncture it, so that you can plant. But alas, there's no other way. However, don't get carried away when making incisions in your weed barrier for planting. You don't need to cut a big circle out of your landscape fabric in order to accomodate the plant. There are two general principles to follow when making incisions in landscape fabric:
- Keep the incisions as small as possible.
- Make slits in the landscape fabric, rather than cutting out and removing portions of landscape fabric.
The accompanying photo says it best. As you can see, I cleared the mulch away over the projected planting spot, just enough to gain access to the landscape fabric. But it's the cut that I want you to take note of. Notice that I've merely made an x-shaped incision in the landscape fabric. I haven't removed any material. As we'll see on Page 9, the x-shaped incision gives me sufficient access to the soil for planting.
