A homeowner shared an experience all too common with previously inhabited properties. The twist is that they didn't uncover landscaping fabric — it was something worse.
"Last owners used TRASH BAGS instead of landscaping fabric," the poster wrote. "Moved around some old pavers and waiting for a good rain to seed. Dog dug some of the dirt and suurpriiiise. Yikes."
The post in r/landscaping unraveled horrifying lists of similar situations.
"I have thus far found carpet, potting soil bags, shingles, and literal trash in my flower beds," one user wrote. "It's like doing an archaeological dig at the effing dump."
Another responded: "Sounds better [than] what I've been excavating… old plastic food packaging, batteries, children's toys, bullet casings, broken pottery, shards of glass, old cans… it's literally like digging at the dump.
"We also had to peel up a bunch of old landscaping fabric that had grass and weeds growing on and through it and it was pure hell."
While landscaping fabric is plastic-based, it's not quite on the level of plastic trash bags. These materials may suppress weeds for months or longer, but they are eventually overtaken by Mother Nature.
Seeds travel via wind, rain, and animals, so they can land and sprout anywhere, giving rise to unwanted greenery atop whatever weed barrier has been put down. Their roots penetrate the fabric or plastic, and then it's impossible to pull them without creating a mess, Sprigs & Twigs reported.
Another issue is that the unnatural layer isolates the soil beneath it from needed water; it also keeps organic material atop it — i.e., mulch — from decomposing into that soil and enriching it.
Landscaping fabric is costly too, and while trash bags might be more economical, they also shed microplastics into your backyard ecosystem. This creates a toxicity problem, which is especially bad if you're talking about a garden where food is grown. Single-use plastic bags can leach chemicals linked to health problems and a marine organism responsible for 10% of the world's oxygen, according to the Center for Biological Diversity.
If you're looking to make changes to your yard, you can start with more natural items, including cardboard. As one TikToker showed, you can use this method almost anywhere and even plant right on top of it.
Another eco-friendly step to take is rewilding. The movement is gaining popularity and will help you save money on water and maintenance no matter the size of the area you're working with. Native plants are a great option to replace turf grass, but clover and other options provide the same effect.
"I don't understand why everyone thinks they need to put [landscaping fabric] down," one Redditor said. "The only thing it is good for is selling plastic."
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