One homeowner was recently trying to decide which type of landscaping fabric to use in their garden. Luckily, they first asked the r/landscaping subreddit for advice. The members of that community responded with a resounding: Do not do any of that.
"In certain areas we're going to have only decorative pebbles on top of dirt, so we want to put landscaping fabric down first," the poster wrote. "Some of the fabrics say they last 3-5 years and some say 7-10 years, but they look pretty similar. The 7-10 year fabrics are considerably more expensive. Is there really much of a difference?"
The responses were swift and decisive.
"Not the answer you are looking for, but … I've been pulling this stuff up for years in the house we bought. The soil builds up and weeds grow on top of it," one commenter wrote.
"There are so many horror stories about landscape fabric. It's a con. They don't prevent weeds. They tear over time and you get scraps that somehow become dislodged and get [in] the way and look like crap. Just don't do it," another wrote.
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🔘 Controlling weeds 🌿
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🔘 I don't have a yard 🤷
🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind
Indeed, the horror stories about landscape fabric — which is made mainly out of plastic, does not break down as advertised, does not prevent weed growth as advertised, and is basically just an incredibly bad product from whatever angle you look at it — abound.
While many homeowners who install landscape fabric grow to regret that choice, a seemingly even greater number simply pass on that poor decision to the next homeowners, who are then forced to deal with the repercussions, which often involve pulling scraps of fabric out of dirt with no end in sight.
As another commenter pointed out, most experienced gardeners know that there is a much less expensive, less harmful, and more useful alternative to landscape fabric: sheets of cardboard, which you probably just have sitting around anyway from the last time you got anything delivered.
"[Cardboard] slowly deteriorates over the summer and is completely decomposed in about 6 months. Just gotta do it every year before you mulch," the commenter wrote.
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