Solarization

Question

I have been trying to establish some native plants and wildflowers. I cleared away the weeds and tilled the soil I have planted selected natives, as I have found specimens that I wanted. There is still lots of unplanted soil. My plantings are being overwhelmed with weeds and I am having trouble keeping up. There is a fair amount of space between my plantings. Is it possible to solarize the soil around my natives, leaving a reasonable space of uncovered soil around each plant? Should I just cover the area around my plantings with black landscape cloth or black plastic?

Answer 1

It should be alright to simply lay down some landscape fabric, black plastic or moist newspaper with mulch on top to control the weeds.