A homeowner turned to the internet to confirm their suspicions about a landscaping tool that wasn't doing its job, and Reddit was quick to call out the "useless" item.
The dilemma began when the original poster moved into a new house and wanted to "develop the garden of [their] dreams." An abundance of weeds was standing in the way, though. Upon further investigation, so was landscaping fabric.
"I am realizing that the ENTIRE front yard is covered in a thin layer of either mulch or river rock over weed barrier/landscaping fabric, all of it, every square inch," the OP wrote in the subreddit r/gardening. "There are even spots where … weeds are growing directly on the landscaping fabric."
"I should be taking this up right?" they inquired. "I mean it's a lot of work but I'm already doing a lot of work. I'm kinda thinking the maintenance going forward would be the same if I just mulched the beds regularly and I wouldn't have this artificial layer under everything."
The OP added that they were pretty confident removing the fabric was the right call, but having "moral support" would be a motivating factor given the enormity of the task.
Commenters didn't disappoint.
"Rip out that landscaping fabric! It is horrible!!" one person said.
"I had weeds happily growing right through 'weed barrier' as well, I ripped it alllllll out. It's useless and made of plastic," someone else shared, adding how the fabric can ultimately harm the health of the soil.
The OP seemed to be committed to a more extensive yard overhaul. As a commenter pointed out, though, there's nothing wrong with tackling things "one section at a time" — a common practice among people on the journey of rewilding their yards or switching to natural lawns.
Both landscaping practices save homeowners time on maintenance tasks like weed control, as well as money on water bills. These types of lawns also provide food and shelter for pollinators, like moths, bees, and butterflies, which support more than one-third of our food supply.
In the meantime, Redditors had plenty of weed control advice for the OP.
"I [did] a big project of cardboarding and mulching last year, and that has significantly cut down on weeds. Might be an option for you to reduce weeds going forward as the cardboard breaks down," another person suggested.
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