How to Use Landscape Fabric in Your Garden- 6 Easy Steps

When it comes to gardening, there’s one thing in particular that is widely known as every gardener’s pain in the neck: weeds.

Weeds are like rude houseguests who show up unannounced ready to have dinner and to sleep over for a few days! They never fail to hog your personal space, forcing you to feel that this is no longer your home, you are nothing but a guest who should move out by now!

In this weed case, your oppressed plants share your feelings. Invasively taking over your garden, weeds stealthily creep into your land, take control, shove your plants aside, and eventually call it their own.

Never heard of manners, weeds are aggressive growers that can immensely harm your plants. Following trespassing, your garden has fierce competition over nutrients and space.

Weeds are pointless plants that grant zero benefits to your garden. Over and above, while weeds neither provide functional nor aesthetic bonuses, they still demand nutrition to grow. As a result, they host plant diseases, block drainage pipes, steal your plants’ nutrients and take up their space.

There are various ways to deal with this kind of headache: mowing and cutting, pulling, adding organic mulch, stabbing, solarizing soil, tilling, or flooding. However, landscaping fabric, also known as weed barrier fabric, garden fabric, and weed control fabric, is a commonly used method among gardeners.

You are 6 steps away from getting rid of weeds for a long time. All you need to do is go through the following steps to install your landscape fabric in no time!

#1 Measure the Area

Imagine purchasing this heavy-duty, costly landscape fabric roll- only to find out later that you bought way more than your garden actually needs or even worse, it fell short of covering your garden bed.

Purchasing a landscape fabric is not common sense!

Measuring the area that requires covering is key to a successful weed control mission. Not only will this first step help you purchase a suitable amount of material but also allow you to know how many garden staples to buy.

#2 Pull Out Any Existing Vegetation

What is the point of installing a weed control fabric in an already-crowded bed of weeds?

To ensure this step is successful, use a garden hoe, a shovel, or even your hands to dig out weeds or any other unwanted vegetation.

However, in case you opted for an herbicide by now, make sure to wait a couple of weeks before laying the landscape fabric.

#3 Rake the Area and Level the Soil

You could accidentally damage the fabric without meticulously raking up your area from any left-behind weeds, twigs, debris, or any other sharp object.

Instead of crying over spilled milk (or torn fabric), effectively comb your garden until it's neat as a pin, completely smooth, flat, and ready for the next step.

#4 Lay the Landscape Fabric

It’s time to roll! You must have figured out the exact area that requires covering by now. To know which side should be facing up, read the instructions first. 

Lay the landscape fabric across this entire area, while temporarily weighing it down with some heavy objects to ease the process. Then, cut the excess material off with a knife or scissors.

#5 Hold the Fabric Down

No one fancies seeing their effort go to waste. So, to prevent your landscape fabric from being blown away by the wind, first, make sure that it is properly positioned, and then hammer it down with some garden staples to secure it.

If you are planning to keep your landscape fabric for years to come, don’t tighten your belt when it comes to staples. Place one every 8 to 12 inches for maximum security.

#6 Add a Layer of Mulch

Whether it’s organic like wood chips, grass clippings, pine needles, and shredded leaves, or inorganic like stones or gravel, deep-colored mulch not only sparks up your garden’s design (instead of living with this drab piece of fabric) but also acts as a shield from harmful ultraviolet rays.

***

While some might believe that other landscape fabric alternatives are healthier for your garden, others install landscape fabric as the solution that ends every gardener’s worst nightmare.

In light of this controversy, skim through the following pros and cons and learn more about landscape fabrics.

Pros of Installing Landscape Fabric

Fighting Weeds Off

Fashioning an eclectic outdoor space that you and your family could enjoy daily calls for regular, long-term maintenance. Just imagine bidding weed farewell once and for all, hindering it from wreaking havoc on your garden. This weed control fantasy is too good to be true, right? But what if it’s not?

Chemical-free, landscape fabrics discourage weed growth by creating a barrier that prevents weeds from sprouting. This garden fabric blankets the soil surface to keep weeds from re-seeding.

Hardheaded, some weeds (despite your precautionary measures) hang on to life without any sunlight! Nevertheless, this method successfully limits the vast majority of weeds from growing.

Improving Soil Health

If your plants thrive in moist soil, landscape fabric is a great way to offer them a growing environment with ideal conditions.

By laying landscape fabric over your soil, you get to terminate the sunlight’s mission: evaporating the soil’s moisture and leaving your favorite plants dry as dust during hot summers. What’s more, you will notice your water costs going down as your plants’ water needs are already satisfied.

Just like how we get affected by temperature fluctuations as seasons come and go, soil tends to dry out during sunny, blazing-hot summer days and freeze on the inside during lower-than-normal temperatures.

Luckily, this weed barrier fabric doubles as a temperature regulator, keeping your soil cool during summer and warm during winter.

Acting As a Money-Saver

Growing captivating blooms and maintaining a show-stopping outdoor space comes with a hefty cost (literally). Opting for a cost-effective solution that saves money, in the long run, is a bonus for every gardener.

Serving as a weed shield for years to come, landscape fabric spares you the extra cash you have to pay for other expensive weed control alternatives.

Cons of Using Landscape Fabric

Replacing Deteriorated Fabric

While landscaping fabric lasts as a gardening fix for several years, the textile wears away over time due to being exposed to all kinds of weather throughout the seasons.

 Depending on the durability of the chosen brand, some landscape fabrics last for about three to four years, while other heavy-duty brands stick around for a decade.

Withholding the Re-seeding Process

Weed control is one of the hardest feats to accomplish. And even though nothing does the trick quite like the landscape fabric, there’s a downside to preventing weed seeds from spreading.

If you are a fan of re-seeding plants, you might need to reconsider using landscape fabric as it hinders naturally-reseeding plants from growing.

Striking an Unattractive Pose

Undeniably functional, landscape fabric is however an unappealing solution for your garden, crumbling into an eyesore.

So, if your goal is to boost the aesthetics of your outdoor space or turn your garden into a captivating design feature, you can either consider a weed control alternative or add another layer to your landscape fabric to improve its appearance.

Is Landscape Fabric Worth Your Penny?

Every gardening solution comes with a long, comprehensive list of gains and losses.

However, it’s no secret that landscape fabric boasts tons of benefits for your garden. Landscape fabric controls weeds, lessens erosion, supports the practice of xeriscaping, acts as an economic alternative to other weed control solutions, and partners with mulch to promote better health for your plants.

When in doubt, weigh out the strengths versus the weaknesses to pick out the solution that best advances your garden’s overall health and elevates your outdoor experience.

Revamping your garden is already one of your main goals!

Without costing you a fortune, ShrubHub, the world’s fastest-growing online design company, offers you a limitless variety of yard designs for under $300!

Driven by the mission of turning lifeless yards into works of art, ShrubHub not only provides its clientele with world-class 3D designs but also increases the value of their homes, helps them save thousands of dollars, and most importantly offers them their dream yard.

Your dream yard is just a click away!

ShrubHub.com