Weed mat creates a physical barrier that stops weed seed germinating, reducing the need for chemical or manual control, and shades the soil to slow evaporation.
It also has a second use that has nothing to do with landscaping. On large earthworks projects, matting is an effective temporary erosion control measure — protecting uncompleted areas through heavy rain events and preventing washouts and slips while a site waits for permanent stabilisation. Installed correctly, with the right anchor trench, overlaps and pinning density for the slope, it holds ground that would otherwise move.
Our crews are trained in both applications.
Which one your site needs
Where plants will establish and the area is accessible, natural mulch generally outperforms matting — it suppresses weeds, holds water, and adds organic matter and nutrient to the soil as it breaks down, which matting cannot do.
Matting earns its place where mulch will not stay put, where a barrier has to last longer than a mulch layer would, or where the job is temporary erosion control rather than landscape finish.
On many projects the answer is both, in different places. We will tell you which is which.