Lamium Under 'Potential' Deck - Help Eliminating Please

18 years ago

I've an area I intend to be a deck, hopefully this summer, however at present there is Lamium growing into the area. Once the deck is built, I won't be able to get below it so how can I truly eradicate the Lamium and all other weeds over the next few months?

Should I just dig it over really well, pulling all the roots & bits thereof I see? Perhaps I should screen the soil as I dig to eliminate all possible? I have lots of cardboard I can put down once I've cleaned it & could place rocks on the cardboard to keep it in place.

It would likely be late May or early June before we get to building the deck itself. I really want to do all I can now to eliminate weeds popping up thru the deck boards in the future.

Any advice/comments/ideas or suggestions gratefully received.

Hope this is the correct forum for this question -- there didn't seem (much to my surprise) be any *Decks* forum.

TIA

Sort by:Oldest

Comment (1)

morz8 - Washington Coast
18 years ago
Hi Holly....There is a Deck Forum, you just didn't think to look under "P"

I'm in no way professional when it comes to decks, but I would use layers of cardboard or black plastic (temporarily!) to kill weeds now. You don't need to go to that much trouble under your deck as to digging and screening soil. I wouldn't leave the cardboard underneath when constructing, you will be creating many months of slug habitat in our climate. Black plastic left in place after construction tends to create a 'pond' effect, will hold rain and could create a moisture issue to affect the life of your wood.

Under a deck or porch is the only place I might use the aerated landscape fabric if building a new deck. ( Check your builder supply stores.) Actually, I replaced a worn deck last Fall, and found black plastic installed under...I wonder if that didn't contribute to the algae growth in winter. It must have been pond-like under there.

This wasn't a new area with anything current growing, so I didn't put anything down to replace the plastic. If an occasional weed finds it's way through the closely spaced boards, I'll pull it...

Here is a link that might be useful: Porches and Decks