Did you know that one of the best things you can do for your flowerbeds to stop weeds is to never use landscape fabric?
Keeping weeds out of flowerbeds and landscaped areas is something that every gardener wants. No one enjoys pulling weeds again and again all summer long. Because of that, it can be very tempting to use landscape fabric as a weed-blocking solution.
Many stores advertise landscape fabric as a one-time fix. Install it once, cover it up with mulch or stones, and enjoy a weed-free garden forever. Unfortunately, that promise simply does not hold true!
Why To Never Use Landscape Fabric To Stop Weeds
Landscape fabric might seem like a helpful gardening tool at first, but over time it can become one of the biggest problems in your flowerbeds. In fact, landscape fabric often leads to more weeds, not less. It can also harm the health of your soil and damage the long-term growth of plants.
There are three main reasons why landscape fabric should never be used to stop weeds. Here is a look at each – and why you definitely want to keep it out of your flowerbeds!
#1 Landscape Fabric Stops Breathing Over Time
Landscape fabric is sold as a material that can allow air, water, and nutrients to pass through. When it’s brand new, that can be somewhat true. Most landscape fabrics are made from synthetic fibers with tiny holes that let moisture and oxygen flow into the soil below.
But the key point is this: the fabric only works like that for a limited time. It will not keep working forever.
As soon as the fabric is installed, dirt, small particles, mulch dust, and other debris begin to settle on top of it. All of those tiny pieces get washed down during rainstorms and quickly clog the openings in the fabric. As more and more of the holes fill up, the fabric begins to act like a plastic sheet. Instead of letting water and nutrients through, it blocks them almost completely.
Without water and nutrients, the soil below begins to dry out and weaken. Plant roots struggle to find what they need to survive. New plants may fail to establish strong roots. Shrubs, perennials, and ornamental trees growing in those beds become stressed and stunted. Over time, they can even die off.
Why Plants Eventually Suffer
Plants do not just need water poured near them – the soil needs to absorb that water. When water runs off the surface instead of soaking in, it creates multiple problems. It can wash mulch away, create muddy areas, and expose roots. But the biggest issue is that the soil under the fabric becomes lifeless.
Good soil is full of worms, microorganisms, and beneficial bacteria. These living creatures break down organic matter and turn it into nutrients that plants use. When landscape fabric blocks water and nutrients from entering the soil, those living creatures disappear.
The soil becomes compact and hard, making it even worse for plants to grow. Landscape fabric changes the soil environment in a harmful way. Instead of helping beds stay healthy, it traps soil underneath and cuts it off from everything good.
Even if plants seem fine in the first year or two, they are slowly losing access to what they need to thrive. In the end, the fabric does not solve the weed problem – it creates a plant-health problem.
#2 Mulch On Top Of Fabric Can’t Feed The Soil
Mulch is one of the best tools a gardener has for long-term weed control and soil improvement. When wood mulch, shredded bark, or leaves decompose, they turn into rich organic matter. This organic matter feeds the soil and improves its ability to hold water and nutrients. It helps earthworms and other beneficial organisms multiply and improve soil structure.
But when mulch is placed over landscape fabric, this natural cycle comes to a complete stop. The mulch sits on the fabric instead of touching the soil. As it breaks down, it stays above the barrier and has no way to mix with the soil below.
That means no nutrients are being added back in. The soil becomes deprived of the compost-like material mulch normally creates. What starts to happen instead? Gardeners have to keep adding fertilizers and soil amendments year after year because the mulch is not doing its job.
Without mulch being able to break down naturally, the soil below becomes poorer and poorer every season. Plants rely on mulch to help them grow strong and healthy. Blocking that process takes away one of the greatest benefits of mulching.
Something else happens too. Because the mulch is breaking down on top of the fabric only, it begins to form a new layer of loose organic material. And what loves to grow in loose, moist organic material more than anything? Weeds. This leads directly into the third major reason landscape fabric creates long-term problems!
#3 Landscape Fabric Leads To More Weeds In Flowerbeds
Even if landscape fabric could allow water through forever, this problem alone is enough to make it not worth using.
As mulch breaks down on top, it creates a thin soil-like layer that is perfect for weeds to germinate in. Weed seeds blow in from the wind, drop from birds, or wash in from nearby areas. Once they land on the mulch and find that soft organic material, they sprout.
In the first year or two you may not notice many weeds. But by year three or four, the top of the fabric becomes a weed-growing haven. Weeds love the fact that the fabric holds moisture near the top surface. The roots of the weeds then begin to grow through the fabric in search of more water and nutrients.
The Weeds Get Harder To Pull
The weed roots grab onto the fabric and weave through it. When you try to pull the weeds, they will not come out cleanly. Instead, the fabric lifts up, tears, or becomes a knotted mess. You end up having to cut around the weeds just to remove them. Often, pieces of the weed root remain, and new weeds grow right back.
The landscape fabric becomes a tangled layer of dead mulch, new soil, weed roots, and broken fibers. At this point, many gardeners simply give up trying to maintain the bed.
Removing the fabric is not easy either. By now, it is stuck under plant roots and buried beneath years of mulch. Taking it out can damage shrubs, perennials, and decorative plantings. The job takes a lot of time and effort. Far more than it would have taken to simply pull a few weeds each season.
Instead of solving a problem, the fabric creates a bigger one. You are left with a weed-filled, unhealthy flowerbed that requires major work to fix.
Better Options For Weed Control
Gardeners do not need landscape fabric to keep weeds under control. There are far better solutions that improve soil health instead of harming it.
A thick layer of natural mulch of around 4 to 6 inches is one of the best ways to prevent weeds from growing. Mulch blocks sunlight from reaching weed seeds, which keeps them from sprouting. It also helps keep moisture in the soil and adds nutrients as it breaks down. See: The 3 Most Common Mulching Mistakes – And How To Avoid Them For Weed Free Flowerbeds!
Another great weed-blocking practice is planting flowerbeds more densely. When plants grow larger and fill empty space, weeds have fewer open spots to grow. Adding ground covers, perennials, and spreading shrubs can help shade out weeds naturally.
Finally, keeping up with weeds early before they go to seed can greatly reduce future weed problems. Pulling small weeds once a week is far easier than battling thousands later.
Here is to never using landscape fabric in your flowerbeds to stop weeds – and to healthier plants because of it!
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This Is My Garden is a garden website created by gardeners, for gardeners. Jim and Mary Competti have been writing gardening, DIY and recipe articles and books and speaking for over 15 years from their 46 acre Ohio farm. They publish three articles every week, 52 weeks a year. Sign up today to follow via email, or follow along!