Why you should avoid landscape fabric

Landscape fabric is sold widely as a low maintenance, semi-permanent solution to weeds. Unfortunately, the marketing is more effective than the product itself. Many homeowners may be surprised to learn that landscape fabric may do more harm than good in the long-term health of their landscape and can cost a lot of money to remediate.

Landscape fabric was developed for use in the construction industry to help build retaining walls and aid in slope stabilization. Landscape fabric also has its applications in the agricultural industry as a temporary weed barrier between crops, and can be helpful when used in similar ways in the home garden. Issues arise when homeowners and landscapers use it as a “permanent” solution to suppress weeds under mulch in garden beds. Below, we detail the issues that landscape fabric causes.

Long Term Damage

First, whether you are using impermeable plastic, or the fabric that’s intended to allow water to pass through, landscape fabric will slow or stop water infiltrating the ground below. Even the porous types become clogged with small soil particles and fine roots and stop allowing sufficient water to pass through. Because of this, your plants’ roots are unable to get the water they need, and this leads to health issues for trees and shrubs. Because they are struggling for water, trees’ roots will grow strictly along the surface of the soil, directly under the landscape fabric, rather than growing down into the soil. Large surface roots can uplift soil and concrete, and shallow root systems can leave your trees susceptible to failure in wind storms. Further, the lack of water penetration into the soil can lead to compacted soils that lack microbial life. Meaning, even when the fabric is removed, you have some work ahead of you to remediate the soil health.

Second, placing mulch over landscape fabric defeats the whole purpose of using organic mulch in the first place. When used correctly, organic mulch provides many benefits to trees and shrubs. It insulates root systems from temperature extremes and soil compaction. It keeps the soil moist for longer by slowing evaporation. Organic mulch is also meant to decompose over time, which enriches the soil with organic material and nutrients that feed your trees and shrubs. Adding a layer of landscape fabric stops the process of nutrient cycling, eventually leading to a barren, dead soil. When mulch decomposes on top of landscape fabric, it becomes a dense block, further preventing water from infiltrating into the soil below.

Third, landscape fabric isn’t even a good weed barrier. The first year you install it, you may feel like you’ve defeated the never-ending cycle of weeding, but it won’t last for long. Whether you put mulch or rocks over of the fabric, the weeds will be back again. Small soil particles accumulate on top of the fabric, and weed seeds are brought in by wind, birds, and other critters. With time, the weeds will be back, and this time they’ll be growing over the top of the landscape fabric. The tiny, fine, fibrous roots tend to make their way down to the fabric layer and grow through and around the fabric. Even the tough, perennial weeds can break through cracks in layers or holes and find their way to the surface again. Eventually, it becomes almost impossible to pull up the weeds without also pulling up parts of the fabric, creating a big mess.

Lastly, most landscape fabrics are made up of plastic fibers that eventually begin to tatter and shred, releasing small bits of plastic into the environment. As roots raise the soil surface and the top layer of mulch or rocks fades, bits and pieces of plastic begin to show. They flap in the wind and create tripping hazards. Small ripped bits pollute surrounding landscape, and they cause eye sores that are difficult to get rid of.

The costs of removing landscape fabric

Removing fabric from a landscape can be a huge challenge. It is often buried under literal tons of old mulch or rocks that take a huge amount of labor to move. Roots growing through portions will make it very difficult to remove it cleanly. Instead, you’ll be ripping up little pieces and creating plastic mess, especially at the base of large trees. You may even find that trees surrounded by landscape fabric need further remediation to improve their health. Many will develop girdling roots that need correcting and nutrient injections to supplement the barren soil. There are even stories of people finding several layers of landscape fabric feet below the surface that are still causing issues. It can take years and hundreds of hours of work to fix the problems caused by landscape fabric.

If you are looking for a better solution for weed in your yard, it’s a good idea to reach out to your local extension office for advice. Identifying the types of weeds you are dealing with is key to getting on top of the issue. In some cases, sheet mulching with cardboard or newspaper, which decompose in a few years, more effective at suppressing weeds. Maintaining a 2-3” deep layer of wood chip mulch along goes a long way to suppress annual weeds. Repeated cutting back of perennial weeds will exhaust the roots systems. For particular noxious invasive weeds, herbicides may be the best option. You can choke out weeds by planting desirable perennial species more densely in your garden, leaving less space and resources for the weeds to grow in the first place. Keep in mind that there is no permanent solution to weeds in your yard, so don’t be fooled by a sales pitch convincing you otherwise.