Mulching

Weed control around newly-planted trees and shrubs is vital to reduce moisture stress and competition. Although herbicides can provide weed-free conditions, mulching with sheet materials also promotes both survival and growth by restricting water loss and increasing soil temperature.

Materials
Mats are available in three photodegradable materials: woven polypropylene, spunbonded polypropylene and polythene, in two biodegradable materials: bitumous felt and jute and in one hybrid material: jute with a polythene backing. The photodegradable materials offer a long lasting, cost effective mulching solution, whereas the biodegrable materials provide a more environmentally friendly solution, do not need to be collected up and release nitrogen and other beneficial elements into the soil as they rot.

Anchoring
All Treespats must be firmly anchored in place. The polypropylenes and jutes can be conveniently anchored down using either our plastic or steel pegs. The lower cost plastic peg, which has 4 pairs of barbs, is generally preferred, but the steel peg may be better on stony ground.

The number of anchoring pegs needed per mat depends on the size of the mat and the exposure of the site. If pegs are the only means of anchoring, we recommend four for the standard square, five for the standard Treespat, eight for the large square and nine for the large Treespat. We would recommend using a peg every 1/2 metre on mulching sheets.

N.B. None of these sheet materials will necessarily provide totally weed-free conditions. Some grasses, for example, may penetrate even woven polypropylene mats.

Squares
As their name suggests these are a simple square of material with a slit cut in the middle, enabling them to be placed over the top of small single stemmed plants . The slit can also be cut to one edge for use with larger plants, on request.

Treespats
Treespats are a patented design, with an sewn overlapped section running from the middle to one edge. This makes them easier to fit, and provides better weed control.