Question
Hi,
  Hello Mark.  You helped me last week with aquestion about a large periennial shade garden.   
My question has to do with landscape fabric.  I purchased a large roll that had been cut at a discount price, but lacking directions.  One side is soft fabric and the other is a mesh.  Which side sits on the soil and which is the mulch side?  Thanks again, John  

Answer
Is it just one, big, floppy piece?  Usually, as you roll it out the "roll" side is the "up" side - why would you unroll it and flip it over?  Man, that would be an expensive installation, if the contractor had to do that on every job...roll out, cut & flip.

Most of the instruction sheets I've read only talk about how to secure it, and to be sure to cover it with at least 2 inches of mulch (4 is better), so the sun's UV rays don't beat it up and to use "pins" if its on a hill, so it doesn't slip downhill.  

Just a bent over pice of wire, really. I've used old coathanger wire. It is cheep/free, and you can get loads of them out of a drycleaner's trash can (always ask, before taking, just in case!) It will rust away in about 5 to 10 years, but by then the plants should hold it in place.

Here is a site that shows two ways of laying it down:

http://www.landscapefabric.com/install.php

Good luck! -Marc