Even plastic doesn't last forever. We've decided to replace the weed mat in our Cambridge nursery. It's had several years of wear as moss and mould have been cleaned off it, weeds have grown on it and through it and plants have put their roots through it. Not to mention mishaps with our rakes and hoes.

John Moodie undertook to arrange the replacement. He got a grant from the Cambridge Christmas Festival Society, then bought matting and new timber for the edging that holds the mat in place. On 13th August 2026 we ripped up the old mat, put new sand down, and then the real work began on the first of several beds in our Cambridge nursery.

John got a big piece of 150 x 75mm timber and brought along his 2 metre spirit level. We spread the sand with spades and rakes, then levelled it with the timber and the spirit level. Then we put down a strip of new matting right across the sand bed in a 3 metre strip. With great difficulty, we lined it up and got it reasonably straight. We had to cut it for an irrigation sprinkler pipe to go through, which didn't help.

Eventually it was done. Another strip of mat was put down the following week, and the rest will follow week by week. Then we'll sit back and let our successors replace our Cambridge nursery in 20 years' time.

We finished the first bed in mid-September and are rather pleased with the result. We then moved on to the second bed. It had been partially renewed a couple of years ago, so some of the weed mat was still useful. We replaced it anyway, and one of our members took it to a community garden. The rest was dumped.

We spread 3 trailerloads of sand using the wooden surrounds as a guide. Some of them needed to be replaced, so we did that, then left the sand to be compacted. This time the work was easier. We had some experience!