Working With Landscape Fabric

Landscape fabric. It is not a particularly pretty topic, but bear with me. I think this is a series of posts worth reading if you plan to create a courtyard or pathway.
Private garden in Niagara-on-the-lake
I always loved the look of gravel pathways and courtyards. They seem very old-world and even a bit romantic to me.


So when I planned out my garden, a little over ten years ago now, I included gravel pathways that would give the large circular garden at the very back of the property the European look I so admired.
A lovely example of a gravel courtyard.
A gravel path in a local private garden.
This type of pathway also appealed to me as an affordable alternative to more expensive hardscaping with bricks or stone.


On top of the pleasing aesthetics, gravel paths seemed like a very doable project: you simply lay down some landscape fabric and cover it over with gravel. Sounds easy enough, doesn't it?


As best as I knew, landscape cloth was what professionals used for such an undertaking. Its use as a weed deterrent in flowerbeds was also very familiar. Here in Ontario, landscape cloth is commonly used as a low maintenance method of keeping weeds at bay in the public gardens that skirt new housing developments.
Here you can see an example of debris.
Though this method seems like a great way to suppress weeds, I have found that it is actually fraught with problems. It appears to work initially, but the benefits are short-lived.


I even would go so far as to say I would never ever use landscape fabric in a flowerbed.


And here's why:


Even with regular raking, flowers and leaves are bound to fall onto the surface material (gravel, mulch, bark, etc.) and break down. That little bit of compost, added to the excellent drainage the landscape cloth provides, will actually work contrary to the originally intended purpose of suppressing weeds.
Weeds growing on top of landscape fabric.
Moving or dividing perennials will be more work than it would be in a conventional flowerbed. You'll have to rake away the surface covering (mulch, gravel etc.) and attempt to dig out the plant whose root ball will have grown well beyond the size of the original hole you cut into the landscape fabric.


Planting the new division involves more raking away the surface material, cutting a new hole, planting and finally raking back the surface material. Trust me, you are going to be cursing that darn landscape cloth!


The landscape cloth will make it impossible to add nutrition like compost or manure that your plants may require.


Beneficial insects and earthworms, which aerate the soil, will find the landscape cloth blocks their natural movements and will avoid the area.


Even the tiniest hole in your cloth is an open invitation for weeds. I have even found that weeds don't even need a hole. They will sometimes spread out there roots along the surface of the cloth and live quite happily.


In an upcoming post, I will expand on my own experiences and express further concerns about any use of landscape cloth.


Sadly, there aren't a lot of alternatives, so I'll touch on the various grade of cloth available, as well as share what I have found is the best way to work with this problematic material.
Three Dogs in a Garden
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  • Trixie63 Trixie63 on Sep 07, 2015
    Landscape fabric has worked in our gardeni think I large part because of the lasagna method we use. Clear the area put downtowns of newspaper keeping it wet to keep in mind place then put down the plastic type of landscape fabric and stone. We do get debris and a few weeds but it's manageable and I use salt to keep things under control.
  • Beth Harkless Hafler Beth Harkless Hafler on Sep 08, 2015
    Our yard was barren, and boring... so after a lot of research and design I came up with what I wanted that would require as little maintenance as possible... After I cut in the shape of flower beds - I put down newspaper - 6 to 8 sheets thick... Newspaper will kill grass/weeds anything that is growing... I then cut up large diameter irrigation pipe into 12 inch long pieces, and holes to put them in; putting plants inside the buried pipe - this prevents plants from running/wandering... thickly mulched over the newspaper up to lip of slightly exposed pipe edge... this was 3 years ago, and the yard is still beautiful... very little maintenance... rake mulch to freshen it up in spring, and pull an occasional weed that has started... not to mention the saving on water because you only need to water what is planted in the pipe; not all the area between the plants... If you are skeptical about newspaper - try it in a small area that won't be noticed. Put newspaper down with a brick or something on it - then go check on it in a month or so - grass will be dead, and or gone.
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    • Three Dogs in a Garden Three Dogs in a Garden on Sep 09, 2015
      @Beth Harkless Hafler I have used layers of paper to kill grass and find it works well. Planting in pipes sounds interesting. How do you add nutrients like compost?
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