Only after a few years, pulling a weed may also bring up sections of the fabric and you’ll be cursing the stuff! If an organic mulch was installed on top of the landscape fabric, that begins to decompose, but cannot be incorporated into the native soil because of the fabric. Or a few particularly tenacious weeds manage to grow right through the fabric. The fabric suppresses the weeds for a couple of years, but eventually, new weed seeds blow into the landscape bed. Yes, mulch can do the trick, but most people don’t put it on thick enough and the professionals can use less mulch if they add landscape fabric on top of the soil. One way to avoid that initial flush of weeds is to cover the soil. Digging in new landscape lighting or irrigation. When I go in to install a new landscape bed, there is a lot of soil disturbance occurring. Those seeds are already in the soil waiting for the perfect conditions to sprout. Prevents weeds – Every time you disturb the soil, you create an opportunity for weed seeds to germinate. In fact, I’ve pulled up landscape fabric after a deep soaking rain, only to find dry soil beneath. And over time it has been demonstrated, landscape fabric pores will trap dirt and other sediments, making them even less permeable. There different grades and thickness levels of landscape fabric that all affect porosity, but either way it still creates a restriction of water and air movement. You may have noticed I wrote “somewhat porous”. Being porous is important as water and air are critical resources for plant roots. These landscape fabrics are somewhat porous in both cases, meaning they allow water and air to move through. Permeability - At the store, landscape fabric usually can be found in two forms: 1) a woven fabric created by weaving thin strips of plastic and 2) a spun fabric created using polyester fibers. The main selling points for landscape fabric are it is permeable, prevents weeds from growing, and is permanent. Commercial vegetable growing and holding soil when building something structural like a retaining wall. Landscape fabric was initially developed for the commercial world. ![]() Let’s examine the background of landscape fabric and what’s happening under the mulch. Additionally, over time it may actually do more harm than good to your plants. Here’s the thing: Landscape fabric does help to suppress weeds, but only for a couple of years. And why does every garden center sell the stuff if it doesn’t work? The Scoop on Landscape Fabric If you’re thinking, “Hang on! Landscape fabric doesn’t work?” Of course, you’ve seen people on TV and perhaps watched professional landscapers roll out the black landscape fabric before spreading mulch. Right? I’ve had several conversations with home gardeners looking for a permanent solution to keeping the weeds down and each time I warn them about the use of landscape fabric.
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