Do I need landscape Fabric?

Landscaping fabric can be misleading in its effectiveness in certain applications. There are many people including myself who though that it was the solution to all weed problems. Unfortunately, as many of you probably discovered after a year or so, weeds tend to always appear.

There are times when using the right fabric can absolutely help slow down the weed growth, when installing any type of rock or gravel a quality piece of fabric separating the existing soil and your rock beds will slow down the growth of any unwanted vegetation. Over time you might start to run into problems when dirt and debris finds its way into the rock bed and forms a nice bedding layer for new growth on top of the fabric you once laid. At this point there’s not much you can do besides using a spray of some sort or get to weeding!

On the other hand, when using certain types of mulch like a shredded bark or cedar mulch, landscaping fabric is pretty useless. Most mulch is a natural weed repellent. Where most people go wrong is they don’t put a thick enough application of mulch down to start. For mulch to be effective you need about a 4” layer. So we recommend that you save money and time installing fabric and instead pick up another yard or two or mulch!

Since mulch is an organic material, it will break down and turn into soil over the years. So, if you have a layer of fabric down its essentially going to prevent the new nutrient dense soil from penetrating the ground below.

Well to wrap things up, the decision is ultimately yours. If you enjoy a rock landscaping, fabric will definitely help you control the weeds for a while! But, if you would like to use a shredded mulch, hold off on the fabric and put that savings towards more mulch!