Landscape Fabric / Weed Barrier does not work to control weeds
Become a better gardener, Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/Gardenfundamentals1?sub_confirmation=1
Share with a friend: https://youtu.be/7SxrhLzXYEc
———————–
Free Stuff:
Free Garden eBook: 24 1/2 Garden Design Ideas:
———————–
My Books:
Garden Myths:
Building Natural Ponds:
Soil Science for Gardeners
————————
Free Resources:
Garden Fundamentals Blog – lots of gardening information:
http://www.gardenfundamentals.com/
Garden Fundamentals Facebook Group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/GardenFundamentals/
My Garden Myths Blog:
http://www.gardenmyths.com/
Building Natural Ponds Facebook Group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/buildingnaturalponds/
———————–
Recommended Playlists
Seed Germination – Everything you need to know:
Garden Myths:
———————–
Don’t Use Landscape Fabric or Weed Barrier
List of Credits:
Images:
All slides and videos belong to GardenFundamentals.com or are public domain images, except for the following:
33 Comments
I really like your hat. Can you tell me where you got it?
More plastic trash breaking down in the sun contaminating everything
The wind will blow dirt on top of you fabric, here comes the weeds LOL I use chemicals to control my weeds
I HAVE BEEN PULLING DEW BERRIES UP FOR 6 YEARS IN MY GARDEN AND THEY ARE WINNING TO SAY THE LEAST! I RECENTLY ORDERED SOME WEED BARRIER AND WILL BE PUTTING IT DOWN AFTER I WEED EAT THE AREA. AM HOPING TO PULL IT BACK UP AT THE END OF THE HOT SUMMER AND PRAY THESE CATBERRIES ARE DEAD!!!! REFUSE TO USE CHEMICALS AND AM TIRED OF FIGHTING THESE DEWBERRIES! ANY SUGGESTIONS?
I learned to hate that stuff years ago! Just like you explained, it doesn't work long-term. And then it is a real pain to get out. Another terrible product for gardens is rubber mulch! Use organic products that will add to the soil over time!
Well, you can call yourself "Garden Fundamentalist"…
(you look like a anothert Charlatan to me…)
COMPACTION
If you really want to keep weeds from growing, compacting the soil in these areas is the best bet. But before you do, make sure you have weeded the area as best you can, before you compact it. Think of it this way…do weeds and grass grow easily on a well used pathway? No. So compaction does work, but utilizing these compacted areas to plant something later will take a lot of work to till these areas up, to make then loose enough to plant in.
This method is quite effective when laying patio blocks and paving stones, or other hardscape items like crushed or colored rocks. Just remember, silt can build up in the cracks and crevices of hardscapes, leading to the sprouting of weed seeds. To keep them clean, use a rake and blower to loosen up this silt layer and blow it out every 6 months or so.
MULCH
There is controversy as to whether or not wood chip mulch is good for a garden. Like he states in this video, he uses straw for a mulch cover. But there's another type of mulch, which is free to use if you have a big lawn or are not on a farm…and that's grass clippings. I use it in my pathways and around my plants, ensuring I do not lay down too much – 2 inches would be the maximum depth.
Grass clippings are a great way to keep weed seeds from taking root, preventing your soil from drying out, and providing more organic substance to your garden, when you till it into your soil the following spring. Just don't layer it too thick. This will cause anaerobic decomposition (stinky)…you want aerobic decomposition in grass. Just place enough to ensure the ground is thoroughly covered…and be careful that you don't use pesticides or herbicides on your grass. These could leach into your garden, hindering or killing the plants.
Thanks for sharing this info.
You're just lazy if you don't use it in your actual garden. I use it every year. No more picking weeds. Works great.
Rather than straw, that has lots of seeds, (wheat or barley) i use alfalfa hay, it rots down well and adds nitrogen to the soil.
Don't tell me what to do.
It works great don't ever use plastic used weed block fabric it let the water penetrate more important and that's it evaporate I like to spray the weeds before I put it down. There isn't anything that's maintenance-free but it's a lot easier to pull those weeds because they can't root or just spray them
I have come to learn the "landscape fabric/weed barrier" is useless for everything. Grass grows on it , over it and through it regardless of how many layers you use even when gravel is placed in top, grass and weeds still grow on, over and through the stuff
Ruth Stout was right
I love my landscape fabric.
Just don't use it. Like this gentleman said the water does not go through it even though it is advertised to. Then the sun makes the black plastic so hot that it burns the leaves of anything your growing. I lost and entire 4×8" bed of greens due to this. I made large holes to plant and water in but it was so time consuming to water the bed that way. It doesn't control all weeds or grasses, they can still come right through, admittingly though, it is much less than was before I put the fabric down, I will give it that. I only had it on my garden bed for one season before I pulled it up and threw it away so I don't have the 2-3 yrs of experience with it that some have, thankfully!
I have come to really hate it.
This prevents my lava rock from sinking in, and though weeds do grow on top, they are easier to pull
My 1 ft of straw mulch is infested with quack grass.
I am a horticulturist and I agree with this video 100,000%. Putting down landscape fabric is essentially littering a bunch of plastic in the landscape. When you inevitably need to rip it out, you’re not gonna get every lash shred of it. Unless you use a really high quality thick one, they often degrade and ripped to 1 million pieces. The ability to suppress weeds is marginal and only temporary. Some of the most difficult weeding situations I’ve ever encountered are invasive weeds that took hold on top of landscape fabric. They can grow roots down through it, so, even when you pull the top growth, they can resprout from the roots below the fabric that you can’t get to. Landscape fabric was developed for use in hardscapes, which is the only time I use it. Between layers of gravel when you’re doing a P gravel walkway, or underneath a flagstone patio or underneath Riverstone, if you’re mulching with stone. I think that companies caught onto the fact that they could sell it as a weed barrier for soft scapes, which is extremely misleading and detrimental. All of the aesthetic and functional issues aside, my biggest problem with it is the fact that it illuminates the ability to improve your soil, overtime by adding organic matter and natural fertilizers. You’ll create a rich environment on top of the landscape fabric and a really poor environment where the plant roots are actually growing.
I use the woven weed fabric for paths in my garden and also in my hoop house. I find it very useful and it prevents a LOT Of weeds growing inside the hoop house and also on the path. I do not put anything on top of it and when it gets dirt on top I blow off with the blower. In other parts of my garden I have wood chips along the path and if I find weeds coming up there I put down some salt to kill them. Nothing we use is maintenance free…
I only put it in the areas where I don't want ANYTHING to grow – Like garden paths, walkways between beds, under flagstones, pavers, plant free gravel areas, and always under a layer of sand/fine gravel/rock (preferably compacted to make the surface hard). I never use it over plant beds/planted areas with mulch on top. Yes, after a few years you will of course get some weeds – but it will still be SO MUCH easier to pull those (fewer) weeds from the areas you want to control. Tremendous labor saver. If you buy my house from me in 10 years, and want to plant in the areas I've covered, that's not my problem (gardening is hard work, after all). You do need to invest in the more expensive "fabric" though – the cheaper perforated plastic style barrier doesn't work.
I put it down on our 100' row of stramberrys when they were first planted. The stuff is pure junk and in year 2, I have plenty of weeds that needed to be pulled.
This fabric destroys your plants and soil over time. Do not use this landscape fabric!!
The previous owner of my house wanted to make the front of the house looking nice and laid that fabric down, all the things that you said applies to the dam stuff years later now that I have this place. Maybe some day I will just go at it piece by piece.
I have a small yard (3,000 sq. ft.) and have removed most of the lawn, replacing the grass with perennials and shrubs. I have landscape fabric over part of the yard, topped with mulch, with the rest just mulched, without the fabric. My experience over 14 years is that the fabric DOES help keep weeds down, and because it's not a natural material, it lasts a very long time, but it's far from perfect. The same is true for using mulch only (an argument for not using the fabric). Weeds do sometimes grow on top of the fabric, but generally, their roots don't penetrate, and they're easy to remove. Putting in new plants with fabric in place is a real pain. On the other hand, while putting in new plants on bare soil, then mulching, is pretty easy, the mulch is far from perfect as a weed barrier, and once a weed gets established, it's difficult to remove without it coming back. I'm inclined to go without the fabric, but for people who are tired of garden maintenance, it can be a useful (though sometimes expensive) solution. Yeah, it's ugly when exposed, but so is bare soil when it's exposed, and using mulch exclusively means you'll need to "refresh" the mulch every few years, which can be expensive if your yard is a sizable one. I tend to go that route (I like the moisture-retention properties of mulch), but frankly, there's no perfect solution except vigilance, and a willingness to keep up with the weeds. The only truly maintenance-free yard is one covered with astroturf or pavement.
i never used it, but already hate it, bc i hate plastic .
Your experience with this product is 0❗️
All you know comes from Google.
Or you have been using it the wrong way, or for wrong reasons.
There are several different types of plastic mulch, weed barriers, garden materials, etc. There are biodegradable “plastic mulches” that are being used in agriculture on a daily basis.
There is a garden fabric that is not plastic.
There is a silage tarp that’s being used only for short periods of time.
Not everyone can afford hired help to weed the garden.
I am a landscaper and I have come to this conclusion myself, landscaping fabric is a complete waste and causes more problems than it's worth.
My weed matting is saving me from using poison and hard labor to remove weeds plus it does allow rain and irrigation water to soak through Until there is a magic bullet to remove weeds from large areas permanently I will keep using it
What do lies and landscape fabric have in common?
Installed weed fabric 13 years ago, and still LOVE that I DO NOT have to weed 14K of space, which would take days by hand, and do not want to spread chemicals. Sure, I get few straggler weeds, but a quick swipe of my foot takes care of any offenders. I've done 5 of my properties, which was a chore up front, but saves me EVERY FRIGGEN WEEK FOR 13 YEARS of NO WEEDS! And no chemicals.
I bought a house a few years back, the previous owners put this horrendous material allllll throughout the back yard! IT'S EVERY WHERE! Under about 6 inches of sand, centipede grass, and years of deposits. I hate it so much.
spot on ,,, i will NOT use , weeds love putting their roots in the mesh and are very hard to pull out , this stuff is a con , do not use , and it's just more plastic contamination ;;;