Ground Layer
Mulching Films
For seasonal crop beds where you want the soil sealed rather than breathing.
View product
Ground Layer
Ground Cover / Weed Mat
Woven HDPE-PP at 120 gsm. Blocks all light, passes water and air — the difference between a weed mat and a plastic sheet.
Overview
Permeable is the whole point
The distinction between ground cover and mulch film is not thickness or durability. It is permeability, and it changes what the product is for.
Mulch film is a solid sheet. It blocks light and it blocks water, which is why you run drip underneath it and why you lift it at end of crop. Woven ground cover blocks light completely while letting water and air pass straight through the weave. Rain reaches the soil. The soil breathes. Nothing has to be run underneath, and nothing has to come up at the end of the season.
That makes it the correct product for permanent situations where mulch film would be wrong: orchard floors, nursery standing areas, polyhouse walkways, tea garden inter-rows, container beds. Anywhere you want weeds gone for years rather than for one crop, and where you cannot cut off the soil from rainfall.
Our standard specification is 120 gsm woven HDPE-PP, black, UV-stabilised, supplied in 1.2 m × 100 m rolls. Heavier grades are available where traffic is high. The gsm number is the durability specification — and like micron on film, the temptation to go lighter is where people go wrong.
Features
Why woven, not film
Water and air permeable
Rain reaches the soil and the soil breathes. This is the entire reason to choose woven over film.
100% light block
Complete light exclusion at the ground. No light, no weeds — for years, not months.
UV-stabilised
This product lives outdoors permanently in full sun. The UV package determines whether that means years or months.
Woven strength
Takes foot traffic, trolley wheels and equipment without tearing the way film does.
No lifting at season end
Stays down across seasons. No end-of-crop removal labour, no plastic fragments in the soil.
Cut and plant through
Cross-cut for planting positions and the weave resists running from the cut.
Specifications
Weight and roll specification
Weight is the durability call. 120 gsm covers most situations; heavier grades where traffic is constant.
| Weight | Roll Size | Colour | Light Block | Typical Use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 gsm | 1.2 m × 100 m | Black | 100% | Light duty, low traffic |
| 120 gsm | 1.2 m × 100 m | Black | 100% | Standard — orchard, nursery, tea |
| 130 gsm | 1.2 m × 100 m | Black | 100% | High traffic, walkways, container beds |
Weight figures are nominal and subject to standard weaving tolerance. Wider widths and alternate roll lengths available against volume commitment. Weight is the service life specification — a lighter grade in a high-traffic standing area will abrade through and hand back the weed problem you paid to solve.
Material & construction
- Woven HDPE / polypropylene
- UV stabiliser package for permanent exposure
- Black, 100% light blocking
- 100–130 gsm range, 120 gsm standard
Supply & fixing
- Standard 1.2 m × 100 m rolls
- Ground pegs and anchoring available
- Batch and gsm recorded per dispatch
- Wider widths on volume commitment
Applications
Where ground cover goes down
Permanent plantings and standing areas — anywhere the weed problem is measured in years.
Advantages
What years of weed control is worth
The comparison is not against mulch film — it is against your herbicide programme and your weeding labour, repeated every season, indefinitely.
- Weeds gone for years. One installation replaces repeated seasonal weeding and spraying across the whole life of the mat.
- Herbicide programme reduced. No chemical, no resistance, no residue, no re-entry interval — and no drift onto the crop.
- Rain still reaches the soil. Unlike film, you are not cutting the root zone off from natural rainfall.
- Soil stays aerobic. The weave passes air. Solid sheeting over a permanent planting causes its own problems.
- Clean working surface. Standing areas and walkways stay usable in wet weather instead of turning to mud.
- No seasonal removal. Stays down. No lifting labour, no disposal, no plastic fragments accumulating in the soil.
Gallery
On the ground
Industries
Sectors we supply
FAQ
Common questions
Permeability, and it determines what each is for. Mulch film is a solid sheet — it blocks light and water, so you run drip underneath and lift it at end of crop. Woven weed mat blocks light completely but lets water and air pass through the weave, so rain reaches the soil and the soil breathes. Film is for seasonal crop beds. Weed mat is for permanent situations: orchard floors, nursery standing areas, walkways, tea inter-rows. Using film where you needed mat means cutting the soil off from rainfall; using mat where you needed film means paying for durability you will not use.
120 gsm is the standard specification and covers most orchard, nursery and plantation situations. Drop to 100 gsm only for genuinely light-duty, low-traffic areas. Go to 130 gsm or heavier where there is constant foot traffic, trolley wheels or equipment — standing areas and walkways in particular. Weight is the service life specification. A light grade in a high-traffic area abrades through and hands the weed problem back to you well before you expected it.
A UV-stabilised woven mat at the correct weight for the traffic should give multiple years of service — that is the premise of the product and the basis of its economics against repeated weeding. Real life depends on the UV package, the weight relative to traffic, and whether it is being abraded by equipment. The common failure is not UV degradation, it is mechanical: an underweight mat in a high-traffic area wears through at the traffic lines while the rest of the roll is still sound.
Yes — cross-cut at the planting position and fold the flaps back. The woven structure resists running from the cut, unlike film which tears. Keep cuts as small as the plant allows, because every opening is a place where light reaches soil and a weed gets an invitation. For container standing areas you do not cut at all; the pots simply sit on the mat.
Yes, at edges and at intervals across the run. An unpegged mat lifts in wind, folds over, and then you have a tripping hazard and a weed strip where it folded. Overlaps between rolls should be pegged too. Ground pegs are inexpensive relative to the mat and the labour of relaying it — specify them with the order rather than improvising on site.
Enquiry
Request a
specification.
Send the application, the area and the traffic level. You will get a weight specified against how hard the mat has to work — not against the cheapest roll available.
Related
Specified alongside
Products that typically ship in the same order.
Ground Layer
Protection
Other Agricultural Nets
Bird net, windbreak and tree guards for the rest of the orchard.
View product
Field Systems
Protection