Landscape fabric, weed barrier and weed barrier fabric are names for the same product. It is a black mesh type of plastic that is used extensively in landscaping to keep weeds out of your garden. Does it keep the weeds out? Does it let water through to the plants? Lets have a look at the effectiveness of landscape fabric.
Landscape Fabric – Weed Barrier Cloth
This is how landscape fabric is advertised to work. You place it on the ground and cover it with mulch. Weeds already in your soil can’t grow through the cloth so they die. Weeds can’t grow on the cloth, so any sprouting seeds also die. Voila! No weeds.
Don’t Buy Into the Landscape Fabric Myth.
It is true that seeds sprouting under the cloth will not grow through it. However, strong perennial weeds will eventually grow through or around it. Many perennial weeds can grow quite a distance under ground and since landscape fabric comes in 3 and 4 foot wide roles they only need to grow a few feet to find an opening.
If you use a thin cover of mulch, weeds do not grow in the mulch because it is just too dry there. But in no time at all you will see the landscaping fabric stick up through the mulch and then it looks terrible in your garden.
If you use more mulch to hide the weed barrier, wind and water deposits soil particles and plant remains onto the cloth. In no time at all you have the perfect seed mix sitting right above the weed barrier, and weeds start to grow. Believe me when I say that plant roots can grow through the holes in the landscape fabric.
Weed barrier cloth is no better for controlling weeds than a 4 inch layer of mulch.
Landscape Fabric Stops Rain
Weed barrier cloth is porous (ie it has holes in it) and it is advertised as ‘letting the rain flow through’. This is mostly a gardening myth. The reality is that some rain will go through the holes, but much of it flows over top of the cloth and away from your plants, which remain dry.
Weed Barrier Sucks the Life out of Your Soil
I’ve talked many times about the importance of life in the soil. Landscape fabric reduces the air reaching the soil, and prevents any new organic matter from getting to the surface of the soil. It does not take long and the dew worms, microbes and other soil life, which depends on air and food, either leave or die. When this happens, there is a reduction of nutrients for your plants, and soil structure starts to degrade. Neither is good for your plants.
Permanent Plantings are Damaged
In permanent landscapes, plant roots will grow into and through the landscape fabric. At some point in the future when it is replaced (needs to be replaced every 10 years or so), you will damage the roots.
Is There a Good Use for Landscaping Fabric?
Maybe. If you are planting trees in uncultivated land that is very weedy, there is a benefit to using the weed barrier around the tree for a few years in order to keep the weeds down, and give the tree a chance to get established. The tree roots have less competition for space and nutrients. The loss of water due to the weed barrier is offset by the fact that the weeds are no longer using the water. The landscape fabric should be removed after a couple of years once the tree is large enough and strong enough to compete with the weeds.
Recent scientific findings, reported by Dr Linda Chalker-Scott, suggest that a 6- 12 inch layer of wood chip mulch is just as effective. I have used the landscape fabric, as described above, for trees planted in fields, but have now switched to using just mulch.
More Reasons for NOT Buying Landscape Fabric
- it is a plastic and we don’t need more plastic in the environment
- plant roots growing on top of the fabric can’t withstand a drought as easily
- moving plants, and dividing plants is a nightmare because the weed barrier prevents you from digging new holes
- if you do get weeds they are near impossible to pull out
- it is relatively expensive for a product that does almost nothing!
References:
1) Photo Source: Two Women and a Hoe
I use landscape fabric on my vegetable garden and nowhere else. I remove it in the fall. My soil is fine, the water goes through it, and there are a lot less weeds. People seem quite happy with the output of my garden, which has been fine for over 20 years. I replenish the soil with mulch and natural fertilizer. Eventually, I will go to regenerative gardening, but if I’m going to pull weeds, it will have to be raised beds. Landscape fabric is bad for people who have the time, energy, and stamina to pull weeds and collect mulch, and I respect that. You can come over here and maintain my vegetable garden for me….
You are removing it each fall – that makes a big difference. That is not how it is usually used.
I’ve used various brands of landscape fabric over the years so it’s become multiple layers over the soil, mulch and layered over each other. I have more weeds every year then plants it’s ridiculous. This fabric does absolutely nothing but take up time and money. I’m at my wits end with these weeds. Throughout my yard I have about 9 different flower beds piled higher then the grass. It looks like I’m growing weed gardens. I pull them and it seems like they multiply every other day.
This is also how I use landscape fabric. I buy the nicer stuff that is supposed to last for years. I cuts out most of the weeding from gardening. However I disagree that it is bad. Weeding is probably the single biggest deterrent to more people gardening, most people do not like weeding. If weeding were mostly removed from gardening, more people would grow a garden and thereby probably have healthier diets. Landscape fabric(which is usually black) also helps plants grow in some situations because it warms the soil. It is possible to have soil that is too hot and so people in warm climates may not want to use it with their vegetables for that reason.
Hi Robert I was just about to go out to buy fabric when I found your post. THANK YOU. I have saved your site for future info. Thanks from an Irish gardener, of sorts, currently in sandy France. x
I generally agree with your opinion on landscape fabrics… Weeds will grow on top of it or around it.
However, I still use landscape fabric on walkways and areas I cover with stone. It will provide added resistance from weeds growing thru the stones, and it will also keep the stones cleaner, since they will not mix with the underlying soil.. Since soil is less dense than rock it will naturally reach the surface… Landscape fabric keeps those two from mixing with each other.
so how about the PP non woven landscape fabric? It’s said that it’s air permeable, biodegradable? What if I use this type of fabric instead of the plastic weed barrier?
They all say they are air permeable – and they are to some extent, but less than no fabric at all. I don’t see how a landscape fabric can be biodegradeable and still work? Unless it is biodegradeable after many years which means you will have the same problem as regular stuff.
You do not need it – just mulch.
PP is a plastic, specifically polypropylene. It is not biodegradable unless it is specifically labeled & has additives to allow it to break down – so it wouldn’t be pure PP. So, it’s no difference than standard woven landscape cloth in its performance. It would be more air & water permeable than solid plastic sheeting.
I’ve read posts by others on your blog who had the problem of trying to remove years’ old woven cloth covering a garden area. Mine has been there for probably 10 years, and there are weeds under, through, & on top of the fabric. Worst of all, the fabric seems interwoven with the soil & grass & weeds. Does anyone have a suggestion for HOW to remove it?
The real problem is that roots grow through it and hold it tight. The only way to get rid of it is to tear it out – not an easy job since it will break into smaller pieces as you go.
I recall it being a daunting task with a rake, patience, and a lot of sweat. If you have a lot of grass and weeds I suggest killing it first with Glyphosate (if you have time).
I am also a big fan of employing strong local youths at a fair hourly rate for these type of projects.
With a lot of muscle and patience! Mom wanted to divide her plants that were 20+ years old and I had to cut the cloth out from around the roots – it was an impossible task.
Hi there, we are putting in a play set in our back yard and I want to know if 2 inches of play bark without weed barrier will be sufficient to keep weeds out. Thank you.
Better to use at least 4 inches.
We are also putting a playground and I’m unsure if to put the barrier should we just make it flat and add bark/mulch won’t the grass still grow? Ty
If the mulch is 6″ thick it should kill cold season grasses. Or kill the grass first and then add the mulch. You can also apply newspapers and mulch on top. This will kill the grass over a couple of months.
hello..
i see this post is from a few years ago, hopefully you are still monitoring it.
my question is. would you use duck fabric for weed barriers in an above ground flowered?
i have a few skeens of it and would love to use it if it will work.
Not sure what duck fabric is, but any material used in the same way as landscape fabric will have similar issues. The issues become less as the pore size increases, but then it also becomes useless for suppressing weeds.
I have to say that I must be the odd man out. I use a really good quality landscape fabric to cover the soil between my raised garden beds. Once I mulch heavily it lasts for many years. Rain water never sits on the surface unless it is also doing so in uncovered areas of the yard, meaning we get 6″ in a day which can happen here.
Yes occasionally I get weeds growing above the mulch. But they are so much easier to pull since they can’t seem to grow thru the fabric. I use Roc-Cloth or now Lowe’s carries the same stuff. Black on one side and brown on the other. Some of mine has been working well now for 7 years.
Yes it lasts for years. Water does tend to run off – but a lot does not run through it. You might change your mind over time as so many others have done.
I agree with you. We’ve never had any of these problems with the weed cloth. We have about 3-4 inches of mulch on top.
When we didn’t use the cloth, it would take several weeks to pull out the weeds and wild grasses that grow in over the winter.
What a pain that was!
Seems like it works for some people and it doesn’t for other.
I bought a house that has stones lining the back of the house. A lot of weeds come through the stones. Prior to us buying the house, the owner had the black mesh cloth through it. We took it up because it looked a mess. Is it worth us putting that back up with stones over the top of it again? If not, what can we use to reduce the amount of weeds that come through the stones? Thank you!
Don’t use landscape fabric – see the post!
Use a thicker layer of stones or smaller stones that are also thick. You will get few weeds.
Hi Robert,
I noticed in several replies you mentioned wood chips. We live in an area where there is lots of huge 50-100 year old oak and other tree’s. It’s very shaded and my neighbor up the hill from me doesn’t believe in grass, so her whole yard is weeds and sticks and moldy leaves she doesn’t mulch or remove. So weed control is an issue .I tried newspaper and had weeds everywhere within a month. We also have bad termite issues. I gave had over $15k done in work inside home due to damage. So I’m hesitant to use wood chips or anything “wood”. I tried pine bark nuggets but so light just blow away. And can’t find in bulk in Omaha and by the bag is too pricey. What do you recommend to control weeds. I can’t keep up especially with the neighbor with a whole yard of several kinds. I was going to invest in a commercial grade fabric and then layer with colored dark brown mulch since was told the colored mulch won’t attract termites. Thanks for your time.
Seems as if termites either can’t see or have poor vision. SO it is unlikely the ‘coloring’ in wood chips will make a difference.
Termites are not attracted to wood chips and are safe to use in termite infected areas.
I would not use commercial grade fabric. Just use the regular wood chips or the colored ones if you prefer.
Give your neighbor some periwinkle (Vinca major), a groundcover that loves shade. Creeping euyonomus is another option. Either will out compete most weeds in deep to full shade under dense canopies.
Vinca major is an invasive plant in North America and should be used less, especially near any wooded area.