Chalk one up for weed barrier in the never-ending fight between gardeners and the gimmicky product.
Another Redditor posted about a loss in their backyard, not knowing what to do after they had installed the landscaping fabric and came to regret it after a few years.
"My wife and I spent a lot of time and effort creating this bed and fire pit area," they wrote in r/landscaping. "Unfortunately after only three years the weeds have taken over. We are trying not to use herbicides at all. I naively thought laying down expensive weed barrier would actually block the weeds."
Instead, the weeds grew through the fabric, and the poster was "unsure whether to leave it, replace it with a different style, or remove it all together."
One of their photos showed newly purchased woven plastic, which they thought would do a better job than "the non-woven crap from the big box store" they had used the first time.
Commenters set them straight.
"There is no such thing as permanent weed suppression," one wrote, while another said, "If a surface has any tiny crevices that hold a drop of water a seed will land in there and sprout."
"I personally would do no weed barrier and mulch," someone else recommended.
That natural method tracked with the poster's avoidance of chemicals, which ensures food, plants, and backyard ecosystems remain free of toxic pollutants. Plastic-based landscaping fabric, which is often disingenuously marketed as a weed preventer, degrades into microplastics, actually makes weeding more difficult, and inhibits the necessary exchange of gases between soil and air.
🗣️ 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
"It is a soil killer," the first commenter pointed out.
Cardboard, as the super helpful user noted, is a great alternative, breaking down over years and enriching soil as it does so. A few inches of mulch on top takes care of the rest — just make sure to leave any tree trunks and bush roots exposed, as they need to breathe too.
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