Homeowner seeks advice in correcting landscaping blunder left by previous homeowner: 'Is it too late?'

When it comes to gardening and lawn maintenance, sometimes you get more than what you pay for…but not in the way you want.

One homeowner asked Reddit about the pros and cons of removing thick landscaping fabric that had been installed previously.

"Will removing landscaping fabric do more harm than good?" they questioned. "There is 25 year old spruce growing in the front yard. … After a little digging I realized the dense root structure growing in the mulch and above the damn fabric. Of course it is and it's why I wanted to remove it, but is it too late?"

Continuing, they wondered whether ripping out the fabric would cause too much damage to the intertwined roots.

Fortunately, commenters jumped in with advice.

"Definitely get rid of the fabric but be mindful of the roots," one person wrote. Because if the poster didn't, they warned, "eventually the fabric will get fully clogged like mine did (from previous owners) and no nutrients will get down below."

"I spent months slowly pulling up pieces of landscape fabric in my garden," another person said. "Since the fabric is gone and I mulched it, all my plants seem to be thriving."

Landscape fabric can be tempting for new gardeners; it's usually marketed as a means of suppressing weeds and supposedly still allows water through for native and desired plants.

But "if that sounds too good to be true," the University of New Hampshire Extension says, "that's probably because it is." Instead, it underperforms as weed control — weeds are famously hardy and can grow through even thick fabric — while simultaneously smothering important native plants. 

"I also hate that s***. The former owner of my house put it everywhere and I have to break out a pickaxe and boxcutters if I want to plant anything new or move anything that's already there. It's evil," one person wrote.

There's also the issue of plastic. As the fabric degrades over time, it releases microplastics and chemicals into the soil, which can damage the health of the entire area.

Instead, homeowners who want a beautiful yard full of thriving natives are better off going a natural route: pulling up weeds by hand or treating them with chemical-free solutions — not using plastic.

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