Weed Mat, Yay or Nay?

Ok, all you landscape guru's...

We're doing a complete re-do of our landscaping in our back yard... and i'm debating whether to put down weed mat or not. Seems like it's most beneficial on pathways and walkways where there's not supposed to be any growth, but looks like it could be a pain in the arse in the planting beds. couldn't the weeds just take root ontop of the mat? like between the mat and the mulch?

Anyone use it and consider it worth the cost? I've never used it and can say i pull a LOT of weeds during the summer... would rather not have to do that... we get this crap called Nut Grass i think and if you don't get the root/nut out of the ground (i.e. it breaks off AT the ground) it grows back double. and if you spray them, they just sit there dead and you gotta pull them up anyway.

Any other alternatives/ideas?

We have used weed block in both our front and back yards...actually our backyard planter, gravel areas, etc is all covered in it....It actually was really easy to lay down and planting in it isnt bad...either dig holes then lay down, then plant...or lay it down and just cut hole in it to dig and plant.
The only thing is it does not stop all weed growth...we still have some very persistant grass type weeds that grow right through it...even through layers of it...it has cut down on the volumne and density though...but we still have to pull weeds, just less of them.
We have one part of our yard that we laid down weed block then stacked river rock on top to make decorative feature and the grass is still growing through.
If reducing amount of weeds is good enough I would say go for it.

This stuff has been a lifesaver for my parents. They live on 3 acres of landscaped property so that is all they do on the weekends. The weeds, especially nutgrass used to get out of control until they took time 2 summers ago to lay down all the screening material and put a few inches of bark on top. This combination seems to work best for cutting down about 95% of the weeds. My mom likes having no weeds but she complains that it is bad for the soil? perhaps messing with oxygen levels or something like that.

They got it for a fairly decent price at Sams club, although its only sold their seasonally, at least the one near our house anyway.

Just spray a good pre emergent herbicide before you put down your pathways and follow up with round up when you see things coming up. Seeds from some of the more prolific weeds will find the cracks in your pathway and grow ontop of the weed mat anyways.

I recommend the weed mat. The thing is not to go with the cheapest (I once found rolls for 2.00 at a dollar store). Well, after mulching over the top of it, within a couple of months, the fabric began deteriorating. So I would go with one that is going to stand the test of time, and not necessary the most expensive one either. If you prepare the area first, spray some sort of herbicide, allow it to dry overnite, and then lay the fabic, it will even be more effective. But as previous posts mentioned, nothing is weed proof.

I get no joy out of mowing/pulling weeeds/gardening...it's a waste of time on the weekends IMO.

hire someone, lol.

For $25/wk during the summer your yard will be weed free and grommed, and you wont' even break a sweat

Thanks guys/gals.

I think i'm leaning towards no weed mat.. mostly because

A. sounds like it's not a complete solution
B. the wife likes to make me rearrange the plantings about once a year... so um yeah.
C. i've got a 14 y/o who really needs some character building.. and by character building i mean weed pullin...

can't wait to be done w/it though. last weekend was REAL nice and this one's s'posed to be too. need more time on the seat of my twofiddy F.

The only place that I use it anymore is under rock beds. I have found that not only will weeds root down through it but then they are damn near impossible to pull root and all.

I have had real good luck using preen early in the season to prevent weeds.

Im all for the lining! Ive got a pretty good size yard and all along around the house and some rather large islands are with shrubs and flowers. So my time is limited for doing yardwork. (especially being gone for 2 weeks at a time for work)

It def helps with cutting down the weeds! but you have to also stay on top of it as well. if you can get the new ones growing in the bark before they take root through thats the important thing. However, my biggest problem is with grass sprouting and the roots always trying to find a way along the barrier and then finally make their way through it.