Carpet under trees?

[foggy]

So, I pulled all the carpet out of my tree stands yesterday and replaced it with ID/OD carpeting. The old carpet I had was wool.....and it attracted so many moths and insects each year.....and it seemed to hold moisture. It had to go.

Question: Is the old carpet good for a weed mat under my apple trees? I think water would pass thru. It is not rubber backed. Most of my old carpet is about 5' diameter. Good idea? or bad idea?

 

[deepsleep]

If it's not rubber backed, I'm not sure how well it would hold down the weeds or hold in moisture. Also not sure what chemicals might leach into the soil. My preference is still plain 'ol Lumite. I have lots of it that is 6 years old still going strong.

 

[greyphase]

I would think the carpet would make a haven for mice and moles. I vote NO. :)

 

[foggy]

STILL LISTENING......:)

 

[Daydreamer]

I've used in the past with success on non-fruit trees. I did put it down on 4 crab's this spring. My old man used to be a carpet layer so we always had scrap laying around. Seems to do a good job with weed control. I've clipped the corners of the carpet with the mower a few times but no damage done. I have the trees protected with window screen so hoping no damage from the mices/voles that might call the carpet 'home'. I will say it does keep the moisture pretty well.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

Go for it. I've used random pieces of carpeting, plastic, cardboard, old drywall and landscape fabric under fruit trees and they all seemed to work fine.

Wool would be a good material to use since it would eventually break down. I use broken down cardboard boxes for my temporary weed barriers - I lay that down around trees and put leaves and grass clippings on that when possible. I've never had any rodent issues with trees that were protected by screens, so I wouldn't be too worried about that.

 

[tooln]

I'd use it at the base of my stand.

 

[aerospacefarmer]

Mice love carpet. Nuff said!!!!!!