I have a fig hedge planted outside of my orchard.  The problem I'm having is that weeds/grass are growing like crazy in between the figs.  To remedy this, and avoid unnecessary mowing/trimming, I'm thinking of installing a woven ground cover fabric around the figs, leaving some open/exposed ground for mulching around the base of each plant.  This got me to thinking: would this perhaps speed up the ripening process due to the extra heat generated from the black plastic?  Does anyone else do this to suppress weeds/grass where they've also noticed an effect on ripening?

In the greenhouse (commercial) some people believe, including me, that the black tarp heats up your greenhouse more and speeds up ripening.  Others claim white is better because you get more light etc.  This is really only useful for us in the winter, spring and fall when light levels are poorer and temperatures outside are cold.  The difference in ripening I would say could be as much as a few days but that would be about it for tomatoes, outside for figs I think it would help keep your ground warmer and the trees warmer into the night so it should have a positive effect on ripening, but how much I couldn't say.  

That being said I put some down where I planted some new in ground trees this year to help warm up the soil because I was thinking the same thing.

There are some things you should consider before putting it down. Plus, don't think the temperature will change the ground temp at all, especially not in an outdoor environment. Try an experiment and take the temp of soil with and without the fabric 2 inches under soil line and see if there is any difference.

Here's a link on landscape fabric:

http://www.bigblogofgardening.com/the-landscape-fabric-weed-barrier-myth/

I'll agree that the landscape fabric of the type you linked to isn't great.  I'm referring to woven ground cover, or ground cover fabric (not sure of the official name).  The type I'm wanting to use is the stuff they use in nurseries to lay out potted material and/or suppress weeds.  Unlike landscape fabric, it's not typically mulched over.  Not sure if weeds would grow into it as the link above describes, I kinda doubt it since it sits right on top of the ground.  I currently use it in a little nursery area in my orchard and it does a great job of suppressing weeds.

My only concerns with it would be that it would raise ground temperatures to the point where it wakes up the figs too early, or that it wouldn't let enough rain water through (though it's supposed to be permeable).  At the very least it should kill weeds/grass naturally and allow me to mulch over the area in the future once the weeds/grass are dead.

Here's a link to the type of stuff I'm referring to (listed under the Ground Cover section):
http://www.dewittcompany.com/products.html

I should have specified, I am using biodegreable plastic mulch, like they use on pepper fields and garlic.

If weed supression is your primary goal, why not simply mulch more heavily?

For example, I use straw.  Where the straw is an inch or two thick, I have weeds.   Lots of em.  Where the straws is 4 or more inches thick I have almost no weeds.  I pull the odd weed or two every few days, but weed growth is very minimal, and I have 16 trees in ground and have also mulched my berries, tomatoes, and squash with it.    Added benefits to using straw or wood chips for mulch is that they help maintain ground moisture (as would fabric), but, as they break down, they ammend the soil and provide habatat for worms and other benificial critters (which fabric won't do).

weed block fabrics, from my experience, are not very helpful. when we moved into our house about 9 yrs ago, we put that stuff over the area where we didn't want the weed and mulch on top of them. with in 6 months we saw weeds. your best friend is weed trimmer.. possibly gas powered with good horse power to get the job done properly. trim them down every few week and they will look beautifu. and mulch heavy and deep if you don't want weeds. if they come out again, bring out the trimmer. i just like power tools... gas powered.

Dave, good point.  I'd love to have mulch over the whole area.  In my mind it'd be more beneficial in the long run than the woven plastic.  However at this point I have a line of figs 340' long and 6' wide (all around the orchard), so mulching it properly isn't really an option now with two young kids in the house due to the amount of labor involved.  I'll still maintain good mulch around the base of the figs and out from it for a couple feet.

My long-term thoughts would be to leave the plastic mulch in place for ~2 years and then, once the ground is sufficiently cleared, slowly replace it with real mulch.  At this stage in adulthood I'm looking into things that will reduce my need for regular maintenance like drip systems and mulching so I can spend more time with the kids and wife.

If anyone has a suggestion for a low-initial-cost (time-wise) and low-maintenance option I'm definitely open!

Hi
I use Lava rocks from my BBQ as a weed supressor .
you can use various types of rocks and design them .
 plastic is good for farms etc but its not very pleasing i think.

Cardboard and newspaper laid down around may provide a good a good mulch and break down over time, plus it is cheap and can be added to as it degrades.

Tim...I think you have a point with the black weed cloth/plastic increasing tree growth and fig ripening...on my three self watering planters(very large), the top of each in covered by a sheet of 4mill. black plastic, which keeps the soil very warm...the trees seem to respond to this with very vigerous growth of limbs and leaves and promotes an earlier ripening cycle...I have an Atreano, a Black Mission, and a Kadota in these three planters and they are several weeks ahead in their growth rate than my other potted trees and even my in ground trees.  Breba and main crop figlets are already well along on all three of these trees. 

I can see your dilemma.  You don't have time to do all the mulching.  Cost wise, you can probably get free newspaper or cardboard from around the neighborhood and free mulch from a tree trimming company delivered to your door.   Can you hire some kids to spread out the newspaper and mulch?   Might end up costing about the same as buying all the fabric and pins for it.  Wouldn't your fig tree roots be happier under mulch than landscape fabric.   Certainly the soil would be much healthier.  

The black landscape fabric won't raise your ground temp up.   Your soil is black or dark already.   Adding another black layer in an outside environment won't change anything.  

I keep an area 75' x 200' heavily mulched with oak tree leaves and straw. I try to maintain a 4" layer but the leaves break down quickly in our hot and humid climate. I go through a couple thousand bags of leaves and pine straw each year. I will run out early this year as I did not collect enough this spring.

Have you considered white clover?

White clover is a great choice for ground coverage, the benefits: it fix nitrogen from air. it stay low profile around 6-8 inch. It also choke off other weed. I seeded my garden this spring, and no more mowing. 

I appreciate all of the feedback.  For now I decided on the woven black plastic groundcover.  I appreciate the note about the clover.  I have seen some grass mixes with microclover and thought about giving that a try in the near future.  I may try experimenting with various low-cost, low-maintenance groundcovers after the black plastic has been over the areas for a few seasons and the grass is fully dead.  Clover/microclover may be a great option for the remaining grassy areas in the orchard for the reasons described above.  

I'll try to remember to post pics of the area once it's been covered.  I'm thinking that I can cover most of the fig hedge in a day if I have a second set of hands.

Finally got around to taking a few pics of the hedge.  This took a little while to get in but was well worth it.  It went so slowly due to the trees already being in the ground.  If the ground was clear this would've gone down quickly.  I think I've saved time already in terms of not having to mow around each individual tree.

I do notice that it gets really warm on warm sunny days so hopefully it'll help to speed ripening a bit.  Had to include a pic of a ripening Marseilles Black VS.  Enjoy!

Tim

Always enjoy fig forum pictures of what others grow and do with there plants.
Thanks and keep them dark fig pictures coming .  ; )

Hi Timclymer, thanks for the photos. My length of the orchard is about 700 feet. I am planning on doing something very similar to yours along the edge of the orchard. I think the fabric is very good idea. I plan on planting very tall varieties over the fabric and place railroad ties as edging along the fabric. The nursery people say that the fabric is good for 10 years. What fig variety did you plant?  I think the hedge looks great! Good luck with it.

I have started putting down the black weed cloth to prevent potted plants from getting rooted into the ground, and to prevent other trees from sending roots up into the pots.

The black cloth will definitely increase heat around the trees in an orchard setting, which might help break dormancy earlier, and should provide additional heat for fruit ripening in much the same way as putting the trees next to a asphalt driveway.

Thanks for the comments.  You bring up a good point Jon, I hope it doesn't break dormancy too early!  Guess we'll see next year.

Elizabeth, I've planted quite a few different varieties.  I've tried to collect a few local varieties as well as varieties based on the recommendations of Herman.  Ultimately I'd like to pare down the varieties to just those that produce best in my marginal climate.