Starting a new garden is an exciting time, with the potential to install native plants, grow vegetables, or to add a natural lawn that you can let run wild for the benefit of local biodiversity.
But finding the mistakes of the folks who lived at the property before you can halt your progress, as one Redditor found out.
They posted on the r/landscaping community to ask about an irritating addition to the yard that was posing problems.
"As I'm learning to take care of my yard, I've found the previous owner's weed barrier," they began. "It's decades old and just feels like a garbage bag. It's pretty overgrown with grass and weeds and is peeking out in places."
They went on to ask what to do next, whether that's ripping it out entirely, cutting bits out selectively, replacing it with a different weed barrier or avoiding one altogether.
Despite how they are packaged, weed barriers often do more harm than good in a green space. They won't keep out weeds forever, with the pesky plants often poking through the material in time.
If the barrier is made of plastic, like this one seemed to be, the weeds will break the material up into smaller and smaller pieces, which can be difficult to clear away, can damage future growth — plastic is made from petrochemicals, which harm soil quality — and can put animals at risk of choking hazards.
The short version is: Plastic weed barriers are bad news. Redditors took no time to issue similar warnings.
"Pull it up," one user urged. "Weed fabric is the biggest scam in gardening."
🗣️ What's the hardest thing about taking care of your yard?
🔘 Mowing the lawn 🏡
🔘 Controlling weeds 🌿
🔘 Keeping pests at bay 🐿️
🔘 I don't have a yard 🤷
🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind
"One of my go-to tools is an old, cheap kitchen steak knife," another said. "I just saw through it while still buried a foot or so back from the section I want to work in. Then it pulls out easily and you can leave the soil behind. Also, I do not replace that stuff, more trouble than it's worth."
If you really do want to suppress weeds for as long as possible, an easy, cheap, garden-friendly option is laying down a dismantled cardboard box. While, again, this won't keep weeds out forever, it can offer respite, and it will break down naturally in soil — just make sure you remove any tape first.
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