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Restoring a potager/raised beds -- what to put in aisles?

MargaretHM
12 years ago

We have inherited a terrific fenced-in garden, about 30' square, with a ton of raised beds. The beds are all 3' deep and the aisles between them are also 3', or even a bit narrower. The beds line the perimeter of the garden and there are also short beds that stick out into the middle on either side (imagine a letter E, except there are two short bars in the middle instead of one). In the center, there's an area about 10' square that is completely open.

Whoever made this garden long ago put down two layers of thick weed-blocking fabric over all the areas not covered by the raised beds. But over the years, soil and mulch collected and the ground became completely overgrown, with weeds and even small trees growing up (and sending roots down through the fabric). After several years of beating back the trees and scrub, we are finally pulling up the weed fabric (with about 4" of soil on top!) and want to start over completely. RIght now the space is completely clear of weeds and consists of very tightly packed earth. The raised beds sit on top around the edges. The beds are made of landscaping planks and leak a fair amount of soil -- which is how the fabric got piled up with soil in the first place.

What should we DO with these aisles? I have thought of putting down more weedblocking fabric and then a light mulch like straw which we could sweep out of the garden at the end of the season, along with any soil that's leaked out of the beds -- but I imagine that will get messy really fast. Or we could skip the fabric and try to grow grass -- but I worry that will also get messy. We walk on the aisles a lot, and if we let up on mowing, we're back to weeds again.

Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions for how to "carpet" our aisles with something that will keep weeds down, be easy to walk on, and easy to maintain? Thanks!

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