Planting shrubs within plastic sheeting

[DottyDry]

We moved into a house last year and I'm just getting to grips with the garden.

There's large areas of soil covered in plastic sheeting to prevent weeds and then covered in slate shingles.

I've planted a hydrangea by ripping out a small 30cm section of the sheeting and digging into the soil below. Then replacing the shingles.

Has anyone done this with success? I'm thinking of planting a few more plants and dont want to destroy them doing it this way.

[carriedout]

Yes, we had a very urban garden with a cat shit issue (cat owners make the worst neighbours!) so we planted everything through weed control fabric, it worked fine. It keeps the soil quite moist too.

[carriedout]

I planted into a cross cut, quite small holes.

[Whatthediddlyfeck]

We’ve done this a lot and will be doing more.
Rather than cutting out a section of the sheeting, cut a cross,pull the corners back, plant the plant then fold it back over, so you have very little exposed soil. Cuts down more on weeds and better for water retention

[Snoopystick]

We have a garden that the previous owner did this and I’ve been slowly getting rid of it. I can’t see any benefits - weeds eventually come through and when they do you can’t just dig them up.

[DottyDry]

Thank you all, that's a relief as I have so much to plant out these next few weeks ☺️. Will just cut a cross and do it that way.

I've removed a lot of the plastic to make a flower bed and veg patch but it was a big job because it was covered in slate which was heavier than it looked. So I'd rather not make anymore work for me, there's loads of it!

[Somanysocks]

When you say plastic sheeting how does the soil get watered? Do you mean weed suppressing membrane?

[DottyDry]

@somanysocks, no it's a heavy duty plastic sheet under some slate shingles.

When I rip it up, the soil underneath is wet but not sodden so it must be getting moisture from somewhere, maybe the adjacent lawn.