Is Landscape Fabric EVER Not Horrible?

Because I watch so many gardening videos, I’ve naturally come across a few about landscape fabric, also called weed cloth. Though we associate it's use with landscapers, bad ones, landscaper John Holden in Connecticut asks, "Should I Have Landscape Fabric?" and answered with a resounding NO. His point is that yes, it will prevent weeds for 3-4 years but he’s against it because:

  1. It’ll form a “nice layer of soil on top, which will grow weeds in it.”
  2. The nice soil can’t mix with the soil below because of the fabric barrier (photo above).
  3. It’s a pain to work with, hard to move or add new plants because the roots get mixed up with the fabric. “Just gets messy.”
  4. Rhyzomes from the lawn can creep under the fabric and spread. “Just really nasty.”

Oh, and even worse than actual weed cloth? He’s seen people too cheap to buy the stuff putting plastic bags and tarps under their mulch!

Another landscaper, Jim Putnam of HorTube, judiciously titled his video "Pros and Cons of Using Weed Control Fabric." He agrees with the short-term help with weed control but notes the problem that “Birds drop seeds, your mulch breaks down, and eventually you’re going to have an environment where weeds are going to come up, anyway.” Though at least “when the weeds first germinate, if you get them right away they’re very easy to pull on top of the fabric.” But just wait: “If they get rooted into the fabric (as it gets old), when you try to pull them out it’ll rip the fabric up.”

Jim Putnam with landscape fabric

Back to the advantages, this one’s telling: If you put the fabric under gravel and have “gravel regret” – which he’s seen many times, with customers needing to have their gravel removed – “it’s very easy to remove if there’s fabric underneath.” Which may be a case of two wrongs making a right.

But he hasn’t finished with the negatives. It’s an additional expense for a short-term solution, and it prevents soil improvement.

Jim also challenges an advantage he’s heard touted for fabric that it holds moisture, declaring that that’s actually a negative because when he’s pulled it up on landscape jobs the soil smelled terrible underneath it.  That’s because the fabric is holding water in place, but not allowing enough air through it for the material underneath to break down properly. “Dead plant parts can’t decay properly and it actually just rots.”

 

One video suggesting an exception to the never-use-the-stuff rule is by Laura at Garden Answer, who uses landscape fabric in her video "Planting The North Pole Arborvitae". From about 3 to 3:50 minutes she addresses the issue, saying there’s “definitely some room for landscape fabric,” though she doesn’t recommend it “in areas where you’re continually changing things up.” In its defense she reminds us that it’s “better than chemically controlling weeds.” Well, there’s that.

I’d run out of videos on the subject, so asked Google to weigh in and found that the industry claims that the fabric “stabilizes soil, retains moisture, saves on mulch, aids in filtration, and minimizes weeding.” An alert commenter was quick to suggest: “Please update your research. Landscape fabric girdles trees, makes weeding more difficult, and deprives soil of water and oxygen.”

In the industry’s defense, they may have come up with a pitch that actually makes sense: “Of course, weed control isn’t just for planting beds. It’s also needed under decks, patios, and other hardscapes.” Okay.

And another negative to add to my growing list: “Re-seeding is almost impossible. One of the joys of gardening is to see which plants have re-seeded themselves in your yard year after year. When you use landscape fabric, it’s very difficult for plants to re-seed themselves. In addition, bulbs can get pushed around and may not return.”

Friend Genevieve Schmit of North Coast Gardening offers lots of reasons to hate the stuff, including the one that would top my own list: “The fabric is butt-ugly.” She’s so right that it eventually gets exposed by wind, digging cats, heavy rains and so on. “And a black plasticky moonscape is exactly what we dream of when envisioning our ideal garden, riiight?”

Finally, an industry publication asks "Landscape fabric: yay or Nay?" and makes the claim that “Before groundcover or shrubs can grow into a hillside, landscape fabrics can be used to prevent soil erosion.” I’ve seen it used on hillsides but isn’t that just asking for the mulch to go downhill and reveal the ugliness underneath? Or does ugly not matter in a short-term situation like that one? Really, does anyone know?

More research led me to six reasons why landscape fabric is a bad idea, including this additional negative I hadn’t heard yet: “The fabric contains petroleum and other chemicals. Most gardening experts advise gardeners to avoid using petroleum products or products with chemicals around plants. This is especially true for those plants that are edible.”

GreenPal Landscaping Companies landscape fabric

Should I Install Landscape Fabric?

Landscape fabric is used by many gardeners to cut down on gardening maintenance tasks.

Should you install the fabric if you haven't already?

As a Master Gardener, I've seen many gardens during my 54 year career. Personally, I discourage my clients from using landscape fabric. Here are the reasons why:

1. It compacts the soil. In order to truly be healthy, soil needs to be crumbly and loose. This is the type of soil where plants can spread their roots and grow without too much work. I've noticed that soil underneath the landscape fabric does not stay crumbly and loose. Rather, the soil becomes hard and compact. This makes digging and planting very difficult. 

2. Weeding is a nightmare. While the landscape fabric will reduce the number of weeds in your garden, it won't entirely get rid of them. The weeds that do manage to get through the fabric are usually horrible enmeshed with the fabric itself. This means it's very hard to remove the weeds. Usually, removing the weed entirely means ripping the landscape fabric.

GreenPal Landscaping landscape fabric


3. The fabric contains petroleum and other chemicals. Most gardening experts advise gardeners to avoid using petroleum products or products with chemicals around plants. This is especially true for those plants that are edible. 

4. Landscape fabric is expensive. In order to properly install the fabric, you need pins to hold the fabric down. This further increases the cost. In addition, it may be necessary to patch the fabric or install additional pins throughout the year. Of course, installing the fabric and putting the pins into the ground also takes a considerable amount of time.

5. There's not a lot of room for error. Gardeners are known for changing their minds. One season you may want a certain plant in a certain place. This may change from year to year. As plants grow, they will need to be divided in order to keep the original plant healthy. Both of these tasks become incredibly difficult when landscaping fabric is present. Changing location and dividing plants become a time consuming chore.

6. Re-seeding is almost impossible. One of the joys of gardening is to see which plants have re-seeded themselves in your yard year after year. When you use landscape fabric, it's very difficult for plants to re-seed themselves. In addition, bulbs can get pushed around and may not return.

As a gardener, I suggest that homeowners use another method to reduce garden maintenance times. Installing a thick layer of wood chips or mulch in the garden is one way to combat weeds. Not only is this solution relatively inexpensive, but it's attractive and will not affect the soil quality in a negative way. 

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