I had my carpet pulled up in strips.( Carpet is a terrible idea in the country)
Anyone ever used carpet strips as weed control in the garden? I'm trying to decide if the pile should be up (wet and soggy to walk on), or pile down (sun will deteriorate faster)

A long time ago I used it between my square foot beds that were 3 across and I forget how many down. I put the pile side down. It lasted several years, then we moved so I'm not sure how long totally. I was happy with it.

I would put the pile side up and then cover it with a layer of mulch or straw. Pile up will give more traction to it so the mulch will stay in place better I think.

I am planning on doing this in my garden.

Pile side down would also look less eyecatching, as its brown. Pile is gray/ blue. I might get confused which way is up.

To me the underside just looked like burlap and had good traction.

Did you give up on carpet too, frillylily?

There was some discussion about carpet here:
The thread "Using carpet for pathways" in All Things Gardening forum

Thanks greene, very encouraging thread

I hate carpet. what smart person thought of putting cloth on the floor anyway !

Been gradually removing all the carpet from this house too, and I agree- what a dumb idea to put fabric on the floor! I'm in the country too, so it absolutely does not work here. A friend of mine said the funniest thing about carpet "it's like underwear that you can't change" LOL. Funny, but kinda true!

It's probably a lot more dry in TX, but I wouldn't put carpet on the ground here, for fear it would soon turn into just so much smelly, mildewy, slimy mess. Everything outside here can potentially grow black sooty mold, even the paint of my car (well, anybody's car, but I only wash mine.)

I would only use "outdoor" carpet. That would not even have "cloth" in it. I have never used it and have no reason to do so, but done well, outdoor carpet (in the right choice of color) might actually look nice if done well and discretely placed.

It is my intent to put the carpet along the sides of my wire garden cage to help prevent that annoying grass and weed that grows through the wire into my garden. Its hard to pull them out through the wire, hard to hoe them out and not dig up the garden.

Thin strips of outdoor carpet should work, but I'm only guessing here.

I just remembered that I tried using an old piece of carpet this way once. I had the pile on top, but after a while things started growing in the pile, and as the bottom degraded, the roots started growing through it. It ended up being a real pain. Weeds were hard to pull out, and long strings of carpet fiber were entangled in the roots. I think I must have blocked out the experience!

When I saw where you are considering using it, I was reminded of a friend's veggie garden with electric fencing around it to keep the deer out. He used leftover roofing shingles, laying in a line under the fence line, overlapping. That was very effective.

I would imagine shingles would certainly be effective, just like heavy-duty black plastic. New outdoor carpet would/should work well though. That heavy latex (or whatever the backing layer is) won't allow weeds to grow through. I am sure, after some years, that backing would break down, allowing weeds to grow through. I use this outdoor carpet around the entrance to the stairs of an outdoor, baseball stand, and nary a weed has grown through that carpet in three years. It was actually laid over grass, and the grass is no more.

You're right Ken, the outdoor stuff doesn't have that woven mat (I don't think) that separates into a stringy mess. It has more of a rubbery backing doesn't it?

Yes, it looks like some sort of dense latex-type material. Outdoor carpet, at least that found in the big-box stores, is extremely cheap. One thing I would never use again is the weed-preventing matting sold in the big-box garden section. Weeds/roots will certainly grow through that stuff and it is difficult to pull up when it occurs.

Those shag carpets disintegrate very fast, and it doesn't matter which side is up.
The carpets with very little nap last long enough, but carpet is made from some toxic stuff...

Having said how awful carpet is... I still use it...
Down here in middle ga, there are some perennials that can not be gotten rid of.

Things like stachys floridiana, Saponaria officinalis, Cyperus rotundus, Cynodon dactylon...
Unkillable...

A sheet of plastic, topped with an old carpet, covered with a thick layer of wood chips... left in place for a number of years... seems to help...

And...
A carpet right side up might be suitable for helping something to grow on a packed clay slope... where nothing can get established any other way.