[Jeanieblue]

Hello everyone. I've been 'away' for a year due to illness, but am now back on the allotment, full of the joys of spring and raring to go. Am sharing with a friend Pat, who is bringing ready-made raised beds from the plot she's giving up. We have paving slabs to make paths in between the beds. What is best to put under the pavers to suppress weeds? We have heavy duty black plastic to use up, but I'm concerned about causing water logging and having slippery paths.
And do you have any suggestions on how we could put the plastic to good use other than under the pavers?  Thanks for your help. Happy planting!

[Ian_A]

I went down the route of using weed suppressant stuff on the paths, then covering with bark etc but never again. To be honest, the weeds still came through albeit in isolated areas but I found I had to replace the bark now and then, some of the fabric rose up and could become a bit of a tripping hazard...

so I ripped the lot out and have natural paths of just bare ground - which I hoe once a week (take about 15mins tops), and it looks fabulous.

[JayG]

I would guess that slabs laid on black plastic would slip, especially if on a slope.

Butt the slabs as closely together as you can and you shouldn't get too many weeds in the joints (until next year, at least!) 

(Hard to think of another use for it as you don't seem to have large areas on which it could be used as a long-term weed suppressant.)

[peapod]

We have paving slabs for our paths, and although we get the odd weed or two, it isnt worth using the plastic under the slabs.

If you dont have any areas on your plot that need weed reduction (lucky you!) then you may be like me and have weeds encroaching around the perimeter.  I've used cement to line my plot edge as a long term solution against grasses, but the plastic would work just as well.

[Jeanieblue]

Thanks. I think it'll be slabs as close together as we can get them!  Want to avoid black plastic and carpet if at all possible. Only have encroaching weeds from two sides ... the communal grass path and a fence between me and next-door's plot .. oh, and bindweed that comes through from the resident's garden that butts onto the bottom  end . The rest we've cleared ..beautifully, hurrah!

[Goosegirl]

You could use the black plastic to line a deep trench dug on the encroaching bindweed etc sides and then fill the trench in so you don't see it.