Weed barrier/moisture retention cover for bagged or potted plants
View Patent ↗A weed barrier/moisture retention device for covering soil of a bagged or potted plant. The cover features a disc of flexible weed barrier fabric having an outside perimeter edge situated at a radial distance from a center point of said fabric. A slit the fabric emanates outwardly away from the center point and intersects with the outside perimeter edge. Matable fastening elements are secured to the fabric at slit-adjacent edge regions thereof, and are selectively fastenable to one another in order to cooperatively close off the slit. In use, the slit of the fabric is slipped around a stalk of a bagged or plotted plant from one side thereof, and the fastening elements are coupled together at an opposing side of the stalk, thus forming a closed loop that provides a full 360-degree span of soil coverage around the stalk.
1. A soil covering device for covering soil of a bagged or potted plant in a laid flat position atop said soil, said cover comprising a round disc of flexible fabric that has an outside perimeter edge situated at a radial distance from a center point of said disc and running along a circular path in a circumferential direction around said center point, and at least one slit in said disc that emanates outwardly away from said center point and intersects with said outside perimeter edge, said slit being bordered on opposing sides thereof by first and second edge regions of the disc, said first and second edge regions having first and second fastening elements affixed thereto, of which the first and second fastening elements are configured for selectively mateable fastening to one another other to thereby cooperatively close off said slit, wherein said slit is bordered on opposite sides thereof by respective first and second boundary edges of said disc, said first and second boundary edges denote terminal boundaries of said first and second edge regions, said first fastening element has an affixed portion that overlies the first edge region of the disc and is affixed thereto, and a free portion that juts outwardly beyond said first edge region in overhanging relation from the first boundary edge in the circumferential direction of the disc, and said free portion overhangs from the first boundary edge by a distance that, in the circumferential direction of the disc, exceeds a width of the slit so that the free portion spans fully across the slit into overlapping relation and fastened connection to the second fastening element, thereby achieving a flat working position of the disc that is void of both (a) any overlapping of the disc with itself at either boundary edge on either side of said slit, and (b) any deviation to a circumferential outer shape of the disc at the outer perimeter thereof, whereby the flat working position is operable, upon closing of the disc into said flat working position around a stalk of the bagged or potted plant, to lay the disc flat atop a soil surface of the bagged or potted plant in substantially full coverage of said soil surface from adjacent the stalk of the bagged or potted plant up to a round rim of a bag or pot of said bagged or potted plant.
2. The device of claim 1 wherein said second fastening element resides entirely within the bounds of the second edge region of the disc and in non-overhanging relation to the second boundary edge of the disc.
3. The device of claim 1 wherein each fastening element comprises hook or loop fastener.
4. The device of claim 1 wherein one said fastening elements comprises a magnetic component and another of said fastening element elements comprises a magnetic or ferromagnetic component for selective magnetic coupling with said magnetic component.
5. The device of claim 1 wherein said at least one slit comprises a plurality of slits that reside in non-intersecting relation to one another, and each originate from a different respective starting point from which the slit extends toward the outside perimeter edge.
6. The device of claim 5 wherein each respective starting point resides at an outwardly spaced radial distance from the center point of the disc.
7. The device of claim 1 wherein each slit originates at a respective hole in the disc, said respective hole residing at a location spaced radially inward from the outside perimeter of the disc.
8. A method of using the soil covering device of claim 1 , said method comprising:
with the first and second fastening elements uncoupled from one another, and the slit therefore opened, slipping the open slit around a stalk of the bagged or potted plant from a first side thereof to place the fastening elements on an opposing second side of the stalk; and
coupling said fastening elements together into a mated state on said second side of the stalk, thereby forming a fully closed loop around said stalk, and with the fastening elements in said mated state, laying the disc flat atop the soil surface of the bagged or potted plant in said working position to achieve said substantially full coverage of said soil surface from adjacent the stalk of the bagged or potted plant up to the round rim of the bag or pot of said bagged or potted plant, whereby the mated state and the coupled-together fastening elements prevent inadvertent opening of said closed loop, thereby maintaining a full 360-degree span of said substantially full coverage of said soil surface around said stalk.
9. A soil covering device for covering soil shared by a plurality of bagged or potted plants sharing a common pot or grow bag, said cover comprising a round disc of flexible fabric and has an outside perimeter edge situated at a radial distance from a center point of said disc and running along a circular path in a circumferential direction around said center point, and a plurality of slits in said disc that emanate outwardly toward, and intersect with, said outside perimeter edge, wherein said plurality of slits residing in non-intersecting relation to one another at angularly spaced positions around a center point of the disc, and each originate from a different respective starting point from which the slit extends toward the outside perimeter of the disc, whereby during placement of the device into a working position laid flat atop said soil, each slit accommodates a respective stalk of one of said bagged or potted plants of said common pot or grow bag, and wherein each slit is bordered on opposite sides thereof by respective first and second boundary edges of said disc that respectively denote terminal boundaries of first and second edge regions of the disc, each slit is accompanied by a respective pair of first and second fastening elements that are respectively affixed to said respective first and second edge regions of the disc, said respective first fastening element has an affixed portion that overlies the respective first edge region of the disc and is affixed thereto, and a free portion that juts outwardly beyond said respective first edge region in overhanging relation from the respective first boundary edge in the circumferential direction of the disc, and said free portion overhangs from the first boundary edge by a distance that, in the circumferential direction of the disc, exceeds a width of the respective slit so that the free portion spans fully across the slit into overlapping relation and fastened connection to the respective second fastening element attached to the respective second edge region, thereby achieving a flat working position of the disc that is void of both (a) any overlapping of the disc with itself at either boundary edge on either side of any slit, and (b) any deviation to a circumferential outer shape of the disc at the outer perimeter thereof, whereby the flat working position is operable, upon closing of the disc into said flat working position around the stalks of the bagged or potted plants, to lay the disc flat atop a soil surface of the bagged or potted plants in substantially full coverage of said soil surface from adjacent the stalks of the bagged or potted plants up to a round rim of the common pot or grow bag.
10. The device of claim 1 wherein said flexible fabric is weed barrier fabric.
11. The method of claim 8 wherein said flexible fabric is weed barrier fabric.
12. The device of claim 9 wherein said flexible fabric is weed barrier fabric.
13. The device of claim 1 wherein said flexible fabric is water permeable.
14. The method of claim 8 wherein said flexible fabric is water permeable.
15. The device of claim 9 wherein said flexible fabric is water permeable.
16. The device of claim 1 wherein the first and second fastening elements are affixed to the disc in positions each spanning a full length of the slit from an originating end thereof to the outer perimeter edge of the disc, such that placement of said first and second fastening elements into said overlapping relation and fastened connection to one another fully closes the slit over said full length thereof.
17. The device of claim 9 wherein the respective first and second fastening elements at each slit are affixed to the disc in positions each spanning a full length of the respective slit from an originating end thereof to the outer perimeter edge of the disc, such that placement of said respective first and second fastening elements into said overlapping relation and fastened connection to one another fully closes the respective slit over said full length thereof.