New gardeners are often overwhelmed by options when they first start gardening. Great advice can come from anywhere, from TikTok to your hardware shop down the street, but it can be hard to determine what advice is genuine and what is encouraging commission.
A new gardener turned to Reddit after getting confused with some advice from their community. They posted in the r/gardening subreddit looking for guidance.
“I have landscape fabric spread around my plants but someone suggested I spread wood chips. Question: Should I remove the fabric and spread the chips in its place?” the OP asked. “I was also advised to lay a soaker hose under the chips. All feedback is welcome by this newbie.”
Landscape fabric is commonly made from plastic. Using plastic over your garden smothers your plants and adds microplastics into your soil and water supply. Instead of using plastic, you can use cardboard — as long as you remove any lingering tape — and top with wood chips or brush.
If you’re looking to save time, money, and energy on your garden, you can start rewilding your yard. When you install a native lawn and only use products that naturally decompose, such as cardboard, your garden becomes that much more self-sufficient and attracts worms and other critters that fertilize the soil.
Pollinators also come back to your area to feed off your native plants. Pollinators are an essential part of our food supply, so it’s essential that they have places to thrive.
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Native plant yards — such as clover or buffalo grass — also require less maintenance, less water, and can reduce air pollution.
The Redditors were swift to offer advice for the newbie gardener.
“I’d definitely remove it and put cardboard down instead then put the chips on top!” one user wrote.
Another Redditor encouraged the OP to forgo the fabric altogether. “The fabric won’t break down, weeds will still grow through it, and you’ll curse the day you put it down anytime you have to dig.”
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