As landscape professionals, we are often asked to lay landscape fabric. People who would like an easier maintenance garden love the idea of landscape fabric - who wouldn't? The concept of the fabric is great - create a barrier for weeds! However, the sad truth is that although there are many factors to help make a landscape low maintenance, weeding mulch beds will always be a part of owning and maintaining a garden!
Weeds growing on top of fabric
Weeds grow on top of fabric. There is not going to be a way to evade this. fabric is only a temporary solution. The mulch sits on top of the fabric. breaking down and giving a way for weeds to spread in the garden. To find out how weeds are spread, check out this short article https://garden.lovetoknow.com/wiki/How_do_Weeds_Spread.
Landscape fabric is a pain to remove! Roots will sometimes grow in with the fabric, ripping them on existing plants if you are trying to remove the landscape fabric.
Look how this fabric compacts the soil beneath it! Roots are less able to penetrate the soil when it is compacted. Because their growth is restricted, they're less able to exploit the soil for nutrients and moisture.
The mulch material is not able to break down to the soil so it basically remains on top of the fabric. What does this mean? You'll have to periodically remove mulch so it doesn't pile up around your plants and in your beds!
In summation, landscape fabric isn't worth the money for mulched garden beds. The idea is lovely, but your garden will grow much better without it and you will have less work in the future by avoiding it. Hand weeding is a hands-on task, but a great alternative to spraying chemicals toxic to people and the environment.
There is one exception to the use of landscape fabric, and that is in rock beds (Which is not a very habitable environment for most plants). It's actually necessary in cases of laying rock. You want to use a high grade fabric and staples, beings sure to be generous with staples throughout the beds. This helps ensure dirt doesn't mix with your rock, which gives weeds an excuse to grow! Be sure during installation no dirt gets on top of the fabric.
If you want to hire a service to handle your weeds, consider hiring us here at Nashscapes. We have awesome employees and quality service. We don't use any harsh chemicals and we are a very eco-friendly company! Check out more about us at http://www.nashscapes.com.
Thanks for reading, and happy gardening!