Landscaping Fabric: A crash course

Image: Walmart

Depending on your experience, you most likely have formed an opinion on the perceived benefits of using landscape fabric in installations.  This fabric is designed to inhibit weeds and keep soil from drying out.  I'll clue you in on the pros versus the cons.

Landscapers and property owners need to weigh the initial benefits against the long-term problems when deciding to use landscaping fabric.  Landscaping fabric is constructed from fibers woven into a solid sheet with perforated holes to allow water to soak through.  Some offer UV protection to reduce deterioration. Once installed with pins, the fabric can be covered with mulch.  Some of the benefits:

• Prevents seeds already in the ground from germinating.
• Retains moisture evaporation.
• Easy way to kill weeds and unwanted ground cover without using chemicals.
• Effective for use around trees and shrubs.

Sheet Mulching Image: My Food Garden

The pros seem to offer compelling reasons for using landscape fabric. However, a sustainable and healthy landscape or vegetable/flower garden eventually suffers from its use.  Here's why:

• Water holes are not large enough for heavy rain events, so water doesn't have time to soak in. Rushing water washes mulch off of the planting beds.  You'll notice this often, especially on hillsides.
• Prevents the movement of garden-friendly worms and bugs.   Insects and invertebrates naturally aerate and fertilize the soil and help decompose debris, like leaves, pine needles, and grass.  Consequently, the soil nutrition is compromised when plants have their roots covered by landscaping fabric.  The result is poor soil health and, over time,  unhappy plants.
• Weeds still sprout and send their roots through the fabric, making it very difficult to manually remove them.
• Perennials and shrubs can not expand and grow.  Reseeding is also impossible.
• It is time-consuming and irritating to remove later.
• It is expensive.

Image: Sandbaggy

Image: Sandbaggy

​Landscaping Fabric Alternatives:

• Use erosion control fabric, often called coir matt (biodegradable erosion control fabric) made out of jute to retain plants and mulch on hillsides. It eventually decomposes once the plants are established.
• Try sheet mulching. Layer cardboard and newspaper under mulch to kill unwanted grass, weeds and ground cover.
• Plant thick native ground covers, like coral bells, wild geranium, sedge, and coreopsis to serve as a natural mulch, conserve moisture and stabilize soil temperature. In the long run you will save time and money by reducing the amount of mulch you need.
• Use an organic seed pre-emergent called corn gluten. This product prevents new weed seeds from germinating in your soil or mulch.

Certainly, landscape fabric has it's fans. If this advice hasn't changed your mind, that's o.k. The intention here is to point out the flaws and offer helpful alternatives for erosion control, stabilization​ and weed prevention.

Related blogs:
Common Mulch Mistakes
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