Landscaping FabricOk, I'm just going to come right out and say it: I don't like landscaping fabric one bit! But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's talk a little about what exactly this material is, and what it is intended to do.
This material is usually dark and thick, porous enough to allow water to come through, but dense enough to prevent any weed growth (temporarily, that is). Once an area is prepared for planting, landscaping fabric is laid down over the entire area, X’s are cut into the fabric that are large enough to fit the plant intended for that space, and then once the plants are placed into the soil, mulch is placed on top – generally landscaping stones, or mulch that does not naturally decompose over time. The use of landscaping fabric is a good option for those who are looking for a more formal look to their landscape. Most people do not fall into this category, and unless you are determined to use landscaping stones or decorative mulch, I would advise against it. Why am I so "anti-landscaping fabric" you ask? Let's talk about that! The claim to fame for this material is that it will "permanently" prevent weed growth in your garden. Some fabric even comes equipped with "herbicide" embedded in it to kill the weeds should they decide to rear their ugly heads. I can assure you with every fiber of my being that this is not true! My brother and his wife made this sad discovery last year. They happily put down landscaping fabric (which was embedded with an herbicide to prevent weed growth) and I put down a thick layer of wood mulch. They really believed that their weed problems were a thing of the past...until this year, that is, when they became frustrated with the sporadic weed growth and ripped up all of the fabric. They don't know how fortunate they were that they learned this lesson early. Don't believe me? Take a look at this picture...this is what the fabric looks like after only one year of being taken over by weeds and sod. Let me assure you, it was not easy to remove.
Here's my lesson with landscaping fabric: The last house that I owned had fabric in a border garden at the front of the house, on top of which was a layer of landscaping stones (do you see where I’m going with this and are you getting an idea as to why I don’t use these products?) I’m sure the area was beautiful when it was planted – hostas all around the edge with stones in the middle to create an artistic interpretation of a pool of water. Unfortunately, the area had gone unattended for some time, and when I got at it, the whole area was thick with weeds, hosta, landscaping stones and soil - yes, as the weeds popped through the fabric, they brought soil with them over time. Under all of this material, I finally found my way to the landscaping fabric, which was quite literally a nightmare to remove. I think I spent about a month removing the old landscaping fabric from this small 10 foot by 5 foot area. If I had pictures of this nightmare, I'd post them on this site for sure! There are 2 types of people considering landscaping fabric:
So, is there an ultimate weed barrier??? The type of barrier that no weed can penetrate no matter how many years go by or how resilient the weed is!!! Does such a thing exist? Yes....it’s called concrete. Other than concrete, weeds will eventually come through any landscaping fabric, any landscaping stones, any landscaping bricks, any mulch...ANYTHING! To keep weeds at bay, you will have to take some measures every year to prevent them through the use of organic weed control, and/or treat them as they pop up. My landscaping fabric of choice (which is free, by the way), is NEWSPAPER!! You can lay down several layers of newspaper in lieu of fabric, which will provide the same type of benefits that fabric does – water can penetrate it, but it is dense enough that weeds can’t (well, temporarily anyways). You will never need to pull it up because within about one year, it will have decomposed. What better way to do your part to save our landfills than naturally recycling the daily newspaper? Even if you don’t subscribe to one, I’m sure you know someone who does who’d be happy to give you the "throw aways." While it is not a permanent solution, laying down newspaper at the beginning of every year will have a major impact on your landscape and efforts at weed control. Simply rake the mulch aside, lay the paper down, and rake the mulch back. Some articles will advise you to shred the paper first. I find that it works better if you lay it down in sheets, at least 4-6 pages thick, to create a nice layer of protection against weeds. I give this method a big 2 green thumbs way up! And have used it throughout my backyard landscape.
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