To line or not to line

Dear All,

I wonder if anyone could answer my query about whether to use lining when converting an area previously under paving stones into a flower bed. We have taken up the paving bricks, scraped up as much sand as we can, edged the side of the flower bed/trench with wooden fence posts lying on their side. The flower bed is roughly 8ft long, 2.5ft wide and about 3/4ft deep to the top of the woo den blocks. The bottom of the bed is a kind of sandstone rock. A friend who has more experience of gardening than I says just put topsoil and compost in then plant the bulbs, rose bush etc that I want and says the drainage will be really good. My husband intends to line the flower bed with 'Weed Control fabric' that he has bought in rolls first. I am not sure who is correct.

I should add, perhaps, that the broadband cable is down there and had been covered by the paving bricks, not quite as deep as I would have expected. Naturally, I am keen not to disrupt this!

I have attached pictures here - or at least I attempted to - to give some idea and would appreciate any advice.

Kind regards,
Fiona

 

@ Armandii,

Thanks so much for this, it's really helpful!

Looking forward to getting my plants in the ground at last.

Kind regards,
Fiona

 

Totally agree. The name of the stuff is wrong, it does not suppress weeds and it disintegrates into string very quickly. I would consider covering the Broadband cable with something so that future gardening operations cannot accidentally hit the cable. Something like half a plastic drainpipe over it would do the trick.
Another point is that it is very difficult to plant through the fabric despite what you may see on TV gardening programmes.