sorry I can help just us garden compost and gently hoe if weeds take over.

I just use chopped up autumn leaves & grass clippings my gardener bags up for me. It works really well & the earthworms love it.

Hi Sue, I had never heard of mulch mats, so I googled them, it seems to me that it's an easy way to part you from your money, by advertising it as natural etc so is garden compost, well rotted manure etc, which is what I use, and it's a lot cheaper than coir mats, I would just stick to the traditional methods, Derek.

Ah me, another good idea bites the dust. Seemed like a good idea for somewhere quite a long way from the compost.

I find giving my plants a feed of bone meal then popping a few layers of newspaper over and around but not touching the plants and weighing the paper down with compost works a treat in keeping the weeds down. I had used mulch mats around the cabbages when I used to grow veg. but decided it was a waste of money. I did not realise there was a larger mulch mat available for shrubs and googled it. They seem to be a mixture of compostable material and rubber. I think given the price I would give them a miss.