A gardener who asked for advice on Reddit unveiled one of the major problems with landscaping fabric, a top nuisance of new homeowners.
The plastic material — made from petroleum — is marketed as a weed blocker, but it actually makes weeding more difficult and creates other problems that are best avoided if you're trying to keep from pulling out your hair.
"I am just starting out on my first garden that the previous owner created," the poster wrote. "They had put down weed barrier fabric and mulch on top but the weeds have now grown up through the fabric (and are very tough to remove)."
They asked if they should remove the fabric or continue to top it with wood chips.
Commenters were unanimous in their responses: Get rid of it.
When landscaping fabric breaks down, it doesn't amend soil like natural alternatives; it just releases microplastics, which then reach our waterways through storm runoff and even enter the food supply.
If you're growing food, this is especially problematic. But everyone should want to avoid the toxins that are already so widespread they've been found in coral reefs and human placentas.
The users in the r/gardening forum suggested putting down cardboard, paper, and straw (as well as pavers and ground cover). When topped with mulch, these things can prevent weeds and also boost your soil's nutrients. (Here's a brief tutorial on one method.)
Landscaping fabric may prevent weeds temporarily, as the University of California Master Gardeners of San Mateo and San Francisco Counties noted, but when vegetation inevitably sprouts, it can creep through the permeable textile, opening large holes and becoming entwined with the material.
🗣️ 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
Healthy soil also requires the free movement of water and gases from and to the atmosphere. So, plastic sheets designed to prevent natural processes from occurring degrade the soil underneath and contribute to the loss of beneficial organisms and microbes, per the UC Master Gardeners.
The solution is simple: Keep it natural and prevent a ton of future work for you or the next person who tends that garden.
"The fabric will never biodegrade, it won't do anything to help the soil the way a good mulch will, and it will not stop the weeds," one Redditor wrote.
"We bought our property 4 years ago and I'm STILL pulling out bits of weed cloth from my garden and yard. A pox on all of it!!"
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