A gardener on TikTok shared a brief but informative rant about a common but damaging landscaping practice.
The video by Sebastian: Mr. Steal Your Lawn (@on.terra.firma) decries the use of landscape fabric. He points out that the fabric “causes more harm than good.”
Indeed, the fabric fails at its very raison d’être: the prevention of weeds. And the material’s problems go far beyond that. As the creator pointed out, “It prevents air and water from penetrating deeper into the soil, which can negatively affect soil health.”
@on.terra.firma Big lawn and garden has us convinced we need to pay money to put plastic garbage into our landscaping 🤦♂️🤦♂️ #gardening #tiktoklearningcampaign #garden #lawntok #gardentok ♬ original sound – Sebastian: Mr. Steal Your Lawn
The issues with landscape fabric don’t end there. The fabric is typically made from harmful materials such as polypropylene and polyester, which, as the video also shows, don’t decompose but just break down into small clumps, harming the soil and larger ecosystem and contributing to the scourge of microplastic contamination.
Sebastian is an advocate for gardening with native plants, which are aligned with local ecosystems and support beneficial pollinators such as monarch butterflies, bees, bats, and birds. A natural lawn is easier to maintain and cost-effective than a water-guzzling grass lawn. Similarly, rewilding your yard means there’s less need for harmful chemicals for pest and weed control.
The comments were full of agreement with the points raised in the video. “It’s the worst! Landscape fabric is only to be used under gravel or rocks or places you want zero plant life or soil,” one viewer said. And another expert weighed in, writing, “Landscaping fabric makes my job as a gardener much more difficult.”
“Wish I’d seen this six months ago,” another commenter lamented.
“I have been fighting layers and layers of landscape fabric since we bought our house in 2011. The previous owners would just throw down more landscape fabric and new rocks or mulch every five years. The layers!” someone else fumed.
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