When is it okay to use landscape fabric? 🪴 In gardens under mulch? Under rocks or gravel?
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- Опубликовано: 9 июн 2024
- When is it okay to use landscape fabric (aka weed barrier, or weed block)? Is it really all that bad? What if I want a low-maintenance landscape? What about landscape fabric under rocks or gravel mulches?
Learn when landscape fabric is helpful and when it actually INCREASES maintenance in your landscape, and the best mulching practices for different situations.
This is the fourth video in a series about MULCH. 🌱 You can watch THE WHOLE MULCH PLAYLIST, here!
• Critical mulching tips...
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Here are some related videos that you may find helpful:
🌱 PART 1 OF THIS SERIES… Critical mulching tips every do-it-yourselfer needs to know!
• Critical mulching tips...
(How much mulch do you need? What about mulch maintenance? Does mulch really bind up nitrogen?)
🌱 PART 2 OF THIS SERIES… What is the best mulch to use?
• What is the best mulch...
(Learn the upsides and downsides of different materials, like wood chips, bark dust, bark nuggets, arborist chips, landscape fabric, rubber mulch, cedar chips, fir vs. hemlock bark, allelopathic wood chips, and more.)
🌱 PART 3 OF THIS SERIES… How to use cardboard as mulch in your landscaping:
• How to select privacy ...
🌱 THE WHOLE MULCH PLAYLIST… • Critical mulching tips...
🌱 How to make a landscaping project look finished fast: • How to make a landscap...
🌱 Landscaping Mistakes that Lead to More Maintenance:
• Landscaping Mistakes t...
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I HAVE EXCITING NEWS!
🪴Design-Your-Own Landscape Layout ONLINE COURSE 🪴is now OPEN for enrollment!
For do-it-yourselfers who want to create their own landscape design, but just need a little extra guidance.
I’ll walk you through the design process, step by step, so you can create a practical, hand-drawn "layout plan" (a landscape design plan that shows the layout of the finished design).
Learn more and sign up, here!
www.gardenprojectacademy.com/diy-landscape-design-online-course/
This lady is very intelligent and informative... Uses for landscape fabric? Preventing cats from using my bare ground as kitty litter. In my case, I'm allergic to cats. When spring fever strikes, I cannot have bare ground in my neighborhood as the neighborhood cats seek it out for kitty litter. So, I roll out landscape fabric to prevent kitty action in my yard. The odor in my yard was off the charts because the 30 plus cats in this neighborhood were using a sand patch the previous owners had converted to under a pergola from having been the base for under a swimming pool in previous years. That created a perfect environment for all the neighborhood cats to come in and utilize the giant kitty litter. I wonder if this is why they sold the house. Anyway, I donned a respirator, dug up the sand and removed it and the countless yards of kitty litter from my property. Then, I covered the space with landscape fabric since the cats were still trying to use it. They couldn't scratch and claw at the fabric. I purchased pea travel for some sections and am still working out what I want to do with another space of my yard. Decisions, decisions.
Agreed - vastly prefer to use cardboard under wood chips to smother lawn or weeds and the cardboard is gone in a few months. I've had to pull a lot of landscape fabric and plastic out of my yard and replaced it with thick mulch, and it has been very effective and I'm building soil at the same time.
That velcro reference… 😅 I totally agree 😂 I so regret using landscape plastic in my yards, looked and seemed good first, then after a very wet winter, nightmare everywhere 😢
I placed landscape fabric recently around a large/mature maple tree and around my AC. I placed river rock on top. I did this because I was tired of digging out all the river rock that settled down into the soil over time.
At my last house, broken concrete was used to make foot-high gardening beds in the front. The concrete was from the 1950s, with lots of pretty, colorful stones throughout the broken edges. In this house, flat stacked stones are used for the garden bed edging. In both cases, I expanded the beds and added height to them. In order to keep the dirt from seeping through between the rocks, I use landscape fabric to line the inside of the rocks or sidewalk pieces.. I shoveled away the dirt, lined the inside of the rocks, and continued the fabric a few inches along the ground at the bottom. This works extremely well at keeping the dirt out, and therefore, the weeds from growing between the stones.
I completely agree that landscape fabric has no place around plants. Several years ago, landscapers laid fabric under a large mulch in the section of our yard that was meant to be planted with shrubs and perennials. For 2 years, I tried and failed to get shrubs established. Even the hardiest, most "drought tolerant" species failed to thrive, despite drip irrigation. In desperation, I pulled up a section of the fabric to see what was going on down there. To my horror, I found "dead soil". I could hardly even call it soil. It wasn't quite sand, but it was completely devoid of moisture (despite the drip irrigation) and life. Nary a bug, worm or beetle. So I started working on the mulched area in sections, removing the fabric and adding lots of organic matter (partially rotted logs, manure, compost, leaf mould). I topped it with shredded cedar mulch and let it sit for a year before planting. I finally finished the last section about 2 years ago and couldn't be happier with the results. Everything is growing beautifully, weeds have been kept well under control by the mulch (even when they do grow, they are easy to pull), and I have never once missed that fabric.
As far as maintaining rocky pathways and whatnot, I lived in the desert at an apartment with lots of rocky walkways that would get occasional plants growing up in the rocks. My landlord would take a small blowtorch to it (!) every once in a while to burn off the organic matter-It sounds bananas, but the torch was tiny thing for searing steaks and he'd do it in 2-second bursts. Seemed to work pretty well, too!
In many cities it's not legal to use those weed torches. And I would be super hesitant to use them anywhere near my house that's for sure
I use landscape fabric underneath rocks in the areas that don't have any plants and where the rocks are larger than 1.5" across or so. Under smaller rocks I could see where it makes sense that a thick layer of smaller rocks this would be adequate, but under larger rocks it seems like you would need a layer 8+" thick to prevent too much dust and soil and organic matter falling into the crevices and creating a soil on top of the fabric.
I must say - The areas in my yard that do not have landscape fabric underneath the same river rock, they absolutely get more weeds. The areas with landscape fabric have zero weeds, except for along the edge where it has maybe pulled loose a bit from whatever is next to it, like a sidewalk.
I believe you that it only helps for the first few years (i am only on year 3) but I think that help is enough to be worth it, but on year 4 you could shovel the rocks aside, replace the landscape fabric, dust or rinse rocks out, and put them back down for another 3-4 year help.
Also you can get a leaf blower+vacuum and stay on top of keeping the rocky areas clean in order to prevent soil from forming on top of the fabric.
That being said I do think that small rocks are much lower maintenance than the larger rocks regardless of landscape fabric or no. I'd love to see a video about the use of mulch and specific types of rocks in a xeriscape area of ones yard.
Bless your heart ❤️ if ypu have time to vacuum your rock beds 🛌 😉
@@kristibrooks967 I don't, but I also don't have the extra $1,000 to add the amount of rocks it would take to prevent the weeds (not to mention the time and energy to dig several inches into the entire ground so that the rocks weren't several inches higher than the rest of the landscape), or the time to go out and battle the weeds myself. So I guess it's just all a matter of where and how you want to spend your time/money.
I recently found your channel and it's a huge help!! I'm and urban designer and I do some landscape design and your videos have been a great resource
I totally agree. I am constantly pulling out chunks of fabric many inches below good soil.
We bought a house that had a ton of cheap DIY work done, including landscape fabric around some garden beds. It’s awful - it’s coming up bit by bit and it gets grabbed and shredded by the lawn mower. We can’t pull it up without pulling up literal tons of dirt and plants, so we are just saying good bye to it one chunk (and eyesore) at a time. It’s a corner that the previous owner cut and now we’re paying the price. Not the end of the world but you’re totally right that it’s not aging well!
Awesome video Eve! Never again will I ever, ever, ever use landscape fabric in a garden...for all the reasons you mention.
I'm a "cardboarder" all the way.
I'm also not a fan of bark mulch as it builds up faster than it decomposes, becomes hydrophobic. With projects I'm working on, I often find myself digging through 12 or more inches of dry bark mulch before hitting soil. Makes it nearly impossible to plant new plants. And I've seen the mulch getting higher and higher, year after year, around tree trunks and eventually killing the tree. Instead, please choose a composting mulch that decomposes over a couple of years and actually adds nutrients to the soil.
Hey Eve. Thanks for the advice on landscape fabric.
As far as mulch goes, here in the PNW we have chipdrop. I'm on the east side of WA. I got 4 pickup loads of aborists wood chips from someone in my local area that got more than they could use. Its all free from chipdrop. So now my front yard is 1/2 wood chips with blue rug juniper and, a couple trees I planted a few years ago.
I did use fabric under the wood chips but now I'm considering removing it because there are 2 very large trees (a Hawthorn and Pine) on the east and west sides of my property and I don't want either of these trees to be impacted by the fabric.
More of my lawn will come out and eventually I will have zero turf grass in my front yard. I just recently I bought 3 Artemsia Tridentia and 3 Rhus Trilobata for different areas of my front and back yard. My plan is to have a mostly maintenance free/xeric outdoor area on my property.
Lots of great info - thank you! I was most interested to hear your thoughts about the benefits (or not) of using landscaping fabric under rock pathways to prevent sinking - for others interested in this - it's at about 14:50 😊 thanks for all the great info and tips!! 💚
I totally agree Just bought a house with thick landscape fabric and rock. Plants are 18 years old and they’ve not spread or grown. Ugh now I’m removing it and just using compost and mulch
Thanks for this channel. I find a lot of useful info here!
My own experience with landscape fabric is that I agree with your take. I'd never use it in my garden beds for weed suppression. if I properly mulch then the mulch alone will greatly reduce the weeds, and I also don't have to deal with some issues that the fabric will cause (poking through and looking bad, intefering with later digging.) However, I now ALWAYS use some kind of fabric barrier under rocks/gravel. I have a lot of clay and we get a lot of rain, and so without the fabric to separate the gravel from the mud I would quickly "lose" those rocks in the mud. I made up my mind on this after I had white decorative gravel sink as deep as 6 inches into the soil below thanks to all the rain.
Note: if possible make sure to use non-woven geotextile fabric, and not the cheap "landscape fabric" you usually find at big box stores and the like. Non-woven (vs woven) allows for better drainage while still providing layer separation of materials, and geotextile is much more durable than the common cheap landscape fabric, potentially lasting for decades.
Thanks, I have never heard anyone recommend not using landscape fabric before. I am so pleased as It doesn’t seem right to put this in the garden.
I hired someone to do my garden after a hurricane in our area destroyed it. We had some shingles left from the roofing job and decided after watching a you tube video that we could use the asphalt shingles as well as weed barrier fabric as weed barrier in the front and back gardens I have noticed that my lemon tree is loosing leaves, my crepe myrtle trees that usually bloom by now are not blooming and my hawthornes are slowly dying. Also there are areas where anything I plant will die after a couple of weeks or so. I spent a lot of money and now after listening to your advice,(soil respiration) I am going to have to dig up all of those roofing shingles. SMH!
I'm new here, such a great video...interested to see what some of your garden designs look like.
This past spring, I used landscape fabric and rock for an area close to a public sidewalk and maybe 5 feet into my front yard. Then I planted 4 boxwoods across the front of the yard in that area. I noticed one is struggling. Next spring I plan to cut larger circles around the base of each of the boxwoods so they can get better circulation. If that doesn't work, I will likely relocate the boxwoods. Putting mulch there wouldn't work since it's public. Depth of mulch is crucial -- in another bed, I didn't use landscape fabric, but used 4ish inches of cedar mulch. It worked beautifully. Do weeds come up? Yes, but as a weed or two pops up, I can get to them easily.
We have bermuda grass here in Texas, and so any path or gravel patio that borders grass has been a good candidate for landscape fabric at our house. The rhizomes can really spread underground and travel. But never that white gauzy stuff, it's terrible over time getting fuzzy and poking up. The woven black kind is pretty decent.
Good Morning & Evening
Thanks for important video
I believe your informations about landscape fabric are fair and knowledgeable and balanced because you love this field i am learning from it
I plant young grape tree in out side philly N.E Pennsylvania
So this information was came in right time i will use red mulch maybe 5 inch . I will baried hose with small holes around the grape under the soil before put the mulch so i can water it when needed via hose i will use the fabric only when i have stones .have a
Q: young 3ft grape tree when mulch what i can use around it young trunk near mulchs ? Thanks for your video
In my garden (designed by previous owner), landscape fabric is my nemesis!
I agree that a 6" chip mulch is the best . . . for many applications. But for ag walkways it can be a very good solutions to prevent weeds coming up between plant containers.
This summer, we placed landscape fabric under 6 inches of river rock around our foundation - with no plants - after removing that depth of soil and soaking with a weedkiller. This is in dry southeast Washington State. We'll see how it goes....
Absolutely!!
Thank you for this video. I, also, am not a fan even under rock. In our area (northern AZ) the blowing dirt just piles up over time and creates a soil+rock layer that encourages weeds to germinate and grow. Grrrr... 🥴
Great video! I don't have a local noxious wind expert, how do I get rid of bindweed?
I have a problem with Bermuda grass in my flower beds. I always use the fabric but this time I wanted to put mulch directly on the dirt/compost. I am not sure if this is a good idea. How do you fertilizer with the Espoma tone when you have a fabric? Any recommendations? I am in the zone 10a Southern California
We bought a house that has 20 years of landscape fabric that is 2 feet down and bermuda grass has stitched itself to the fabric. It has taken years to try to rip it out.
Been in this location for 5 years and am finally getting to the fabric from a very old garden. The surrounding trees have no duff at the base because of the fabric. I’ve been moving existing perineals to the area. I’m hoping to manage the weeds by choking them out with prettier non-invasive ‘weeds’ like iris, borage, delphinium.
The fabric has been devastating to that area. Just a mess
What if you just want a mulch bed? I’m trying to cover an foundation/stone that’s been sunk into the ground and I’m unsure what’s the best way to go.
I have fought weeds for over 50 years. Landscape fabric doesn't work, weed killer doesn't work and the weed roots grow so deep, I can't dig them up. The people who lived in this house before us had a quick fix done on landscaping with that fabric and I have spent the past 5 years breaking my back on weeds.
in New Mexico , weeds will immediately grow through rock so need plastic or landscape fabric (I'd try plastic first as an experiment since weeds do settle into the fabric) - in Minnesota, leaves from elm , maple , and oak stick to the rocks (so definitely hi maintenance )
What do I do if I want Scottish moss in my brick walkway ( which I love!) but grass and weeds keep growing up thru the beautiful moss?
Hi! I have several maple trees in my backyard. I use mulch in my garden bed that sits under 3 maples. Is it possible for me to combat the falling maple seeds, which constantly root, without landscape fabric?
I have been thinking about using landscape fabric under gravel between permanent raised beds that will be my vegetable garden. Would this be good or deep gravel and if better with deep gravel, how many cm thick? hot tropical climate with monsoon and dry seasons. I've also been struggling to think of good shrubs and trees for a privacy barrier/hedge. it never freezes. dry season in the winter.
One thing that always comes to mind when talking about cardboard or deep mulches etc. is what's best practice when it comes to various types of pests that can live/nest in these mulches? Or what to do about things like house foundations. What works for one application might have repercussions for other equally serious issues. Even my local experts can't seem to help with this. I get one thing from the pest control people and another from the local landscape experts. It's frustrating and confusing.
I have the same issues… I don’t need more creepy crawlies for me and my dog, and definitely don’t want to supply possible fuel in case of fire. I read about keeping some 1-2’ distance between mulch and house foundation, but then what to do in that 1-2’ spaces?🤔
Agreed! I had an infestation of weevils and earwigs this year and ultimately the only thing that stopped them was getting rid of *all* of the woody type mulch on my property. I also have an issue with black widows and they just looove cardboard so I would be really hesitant to use that unless it was going underneath a bunch of in a raised garden bed or something.
What about a decomposed granite area that doesn't have many plants? I'm assuming it would be helpful there since it's not feasible to put down 5 inches of this stuff.
Does Bermuda grass need to be removed before mulching?
I literally just paid to get my yard redone and it has landscaping facric under. Indont have plants nor do I plan to plant. Am I screwed?
Hi this is such a great summary with all the pros and Cons. Regarding wood mulching, can we put them directly touching the exterior walls of the residential home? I have heard that termites like the woodchip, is that true? Thanks!
Where can one get high quality mulch? Isn’t most of it originate from shredded pallets that have chemicals in them??
Can you use cardboard instead? Or is that unhealthy as well?
How do you plant in 6-7" mulch?
What if you don’t have flowers? And its red mud under?
Is it good to remove unwanted grass in landscape
Have never been a fan as it peeks out every where it is used and looks so tacky. I use newspaper and wet it and it breaks down fairly quickly. Very cheap, recycling, win-win.
This is going to sound weird, but here goes: can you use the clumps of Cat pee for anything good, or just throw it out. It seems like such a waste if it could be used.
Preach!
Hi: I want to lay a wide long gravel path and am stymied. I've so far refused to buy landscape fabric to line my trench because I don't want to support fossils fuel industries as they create new needs for fossil fuels, to offset their losses as we move to fewer fossil fuel sources, and because the poly landscape fabrics are turning out to contribute to microplastics pollution in soil and groundwater. But I want to make sure my gravel doesn't migrate into the garden beds next to the path. --------- It's been pretty fruitless searching for a plastic free barrier so far, at least one that will be effective. Recently I dug up a thin walled cedar planter box, full of soil, that I'd buried over 20 years ago to block a hole under my back fence . The box is still intact though it's been beneath ground and been snowed and rain on the whole time.---- Do you know of anyone lining a path's trench with old cedar fencing? I was thinking that laying old cedar fence slats with thin spaces between each slat for or drainage on the bottom and then lining the sides wiith cedar or redwood, dimensionals of 6" x 6" x 8' oe longer, might make a long term effective barrier to keep the gravel in place while doing less ecological harm.. I'd love to know if anyone's done this or if you think it could work. The path is to be 6-8 inches deeps , 4 ft wides X 24 ft long and straight. Also, do you know what people used for barriers before the advent of polycloth. Thank you for any time you can spare answering.
Good advice related to landscape fabric under mulch. NEVER put fabric under mulch and don't short on the mulch.
I’m just trying to kill grass so to make a flower bed.
I use it to roll up bodies.
Every time I’ve put it down, I’ve had a less pleasant job taking it back up.
I dare people to get rid of Bishop's weed without fabric! If weeds are growing in the mulch, better yet to weed in mulch than in soil! I completely disagree with those who say not to use landscape fabric! Furthermore, the fabric keeps the soil damp, and prevents the cold killing the roots of the plants. So no, I cannot see any reason for not using landscape fabric!
How on earth do you get rid of a bad invasion of Bind Weed ,short of a nuclear bomb with a direct hit to your yard ? If anything survives that I'm sure it would be Bind Weed.
The reality is that ... nobody ... puts 6" of mulch ... ever. Even if they did, in just a couple of years it would be flattened back down which means you would have to add even more mulch. This works great if your goal is building soil but over the long haul, the weeds will come back and overtake the space. The bottom line is that a weed barrier is the only solution to keep weeds away for a long time. Here in Texas, the only place I have weed problems is where I don't have landscape fabric. In some areas, I used 8" of grass clippings and the weeds still find their way through.
I use cardboard. It is the best!
Never!!!!
They need to call it what it is woven plastic. they need to to stop calling it fabric...lol
Discussing landscape fabric as one categorical topic is misleading. If you are going to give professional advice, you need to go into the differences between different landscape fabrics.
You keep repeating yourself. Say it once and your video will be shorter and more viewer friendly