How to prepare for weed mat

[G1nzo]

have a large area at the rear of the house which is basically just stone scalpings laid directly on Earth 40ft x 30 ft
This is many years old and needs replacing
Weeds are growing through it
I have people coming to level some of the other surrounding land
and i want them to scrape off the top layer of these stones
i plan to put a weed mat or some product to stop the weeds
do i need to put anything under the mat between it and the ground ??
the mat will have new scalpings put on top of it
Will the stones puncture it when i drive over them
any suggestions would be appreciated

 

[Old Perennial]

I guess you are using this for a drive way?

Depending how deep the scalpins are then ordinery landscape cloth should do. (Black and a bit like tissue) Or for tougher duty, you can buy rolls of woven polyprop with squares pinted for use in nurseries for standing pots on. The lines give indication of spacings. This stuff is porous and much stronger than landscape cloth. This may be beter.

Certain larger builders merchants may sell a white cloth 'Geotextile' designed specifically for seperating the original ground from any top dressing for preventing the dressing mixing with the earth.

I doubt if punctures would be that detrimental but a does of weedkiller wouldnt go amiss as thistles can push up through tarmac!

You dont need to put anything other than these covers down but what ever you do dont put polythene sheet under or the wtaer wont drain away.

Practically I would consider a double layer of landscape mat.

 

[Thermo]

there is absolutly no point in putting landscape fabric under mot. the weeds do grow through a decent layer of mot they grow in the top layer where seeds settle. a layer of anything over than a geotextile layer such as terram will simply not last and do no good. it will also hinder compaction. The only time terram is used is under the mot to provide stabilisation.