[Tagging] How to tag Landscaping tarpaper / weedblocking paper

[John Willis]

- yea, a lot of the erosion control searching online I have seen is open mesh or open squared checkerboard. 

- yea, a lot of weed paper is root-blocking /light blocking sheeting, usually .5mm thick or so 

- the farming plastic is a weed barrier, and also a wind erosion barrier. (The dust can be amazing in early spring) There are hundreds of KM of 1m wide .1mm plastic with holes in it for various vegetable fields around my home here. It is temporary and reusable. 

- the “heavy” sheeting i am talking about that I see for erosion control (not necessarily slope stabilization) is thick - like 3-4mm thick roofing material,  like felt tarpaper, with a hard green-gray outer coating (not tar). It is held in place with large stakes/staples and those holes are “taped”shut, and all seams “taped” as well. It is used gap filler and small embankment cover around roadway landscaping and between buildings to totally stop all the kudzu and 2m tall sticker-covered weeds from getting a foothold and/or torrential downpour erosion protection for many years. 

There is a small amount near my home, I’ll snap a picture of it. It is not a “mappable” amount, but should give you an idea of what it is. 

It is somewhere between weed blocker and the soil stabilizing meshes - but unlinke the meshes (which often get overgrown) or the farming sheeting (which is temporary and used in fields), this is permanent (decade or so) and always the top surface. 

So what would be a good surface=* be for it? Tarpaper sounds too close to the roofing material, which could cause confusion. 

We should think of some surface=* values for the stabilization meshes (metal/plastic) as well. 

Javbw

> On Jan 16, 2020, at 10:47 AM, Joseph Eisenberg <joseph.eisenberg at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> This sound like a surface=* feature, since it isn't a landuse or
> natural vegetation type.
> 
> Plastic sheeting is also used on some types of farmland, for example
> strawberry fields, for weed prevention.
> 
> So map the area's function with landuse=railway/industrial/farmland or
> natural=scree/sand/etc. or area:highway=, or whatever is relevant, and
> then add surface=plastic_sheeting, surface=tar_paper, etc.
> 
> If you don't know the landuse or function, and there is no natural
> vegetation, I would use surface=* alone.
> 
>> On 1/16/20, Warin <61sundowner at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> On 16/1/20 11:59 am, John Willis via Tagging wrote:
>>> here in Japan and other places where unwanted vegetation grows very
>>> quickly and/or has heavy rain, heavy tar paper / plastic or metal mesh /
>>> or plastic “weedblocking” sheeting is commonly used on embankments,
>>> traffic islands, and other places where people want to stop weeds from
>>> growing and to prevent erosion from heavy rain. Stakes or landscaping
>>> staples hold it in place, and sometimes seams are sealed with additional
>>> material (if the barrier is for weedblocking).  It is commonly seen in
>>> industrial settings (areas around factories), and in public areas around
>>> roads and other transportation infrastructure where people don’t walk.
>>> this is a permanent landcover, not temporary covering for construction,
>>> etc.
>>> 
>>> While I admit it is rare to tag a lot of this, when mapping public areas
>>> around some roads, I have found more and more of it.
>>> 
>>> looking in surface= and landcover= , I cant find anything that matches.
>>> “tar paper” as a roofing material is on the wiki, but noting else about
>>> “landscaping” or “weedblocking” is found.
>>> 
>>> What do people suggest is a good name to add to “surface” or “landcover”
>>> for such a surface?
>>> 
>>> Looking around the internet, there is a large variety of “erosion control”
>>> sheeting and materials (this tar paper, plastic & metal mesh, and other
>>> landcovers meant to control erosion on slopes), so perhaps a tag for all
>>> of them is appropriate.
>>> 
>>> Perhaps landcover=erosion_control is a good tag for all of these types of
>>> sheeting applied to the ground. if a further refinement is needed (and
>>> someone knows the proper names for these things, then a subtag can be
>>> added later  (erosion_control=foo_bar).
>> 
>> 
>> Different things ;
>> 
>> erosion control,
>> 
>> weed block.
>> 
>> The weed block plastic here is called 'weed mat', it is designed so as not
>> to allow sunlight through, well not enough for a plant to grow.
>> 
>> On a steep slope it will do nothing for erosion control as it sits above the
>> soil. I have a few square meters of it at home.
>> 
>> Erosion control may well allow enough sunlight through to enable plants to
>> grow .. including weeds.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
> 
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