Hey there, grasshopper! 🌱Here's the tea on landscape fabric and why you should think twice before using it in your garden.
6 Reasons to Avoid Landscape Fabric and Alternative Solutions
First off, this synthetic material can smother all sorts of beneficial microorganisms in your soil. Yes, that's right, the hard-working critters that play a vital role in maintaining your garden's health need to breathe too!
And guess what happens when smothered? They die, eventually. In addition to the microflora, landscape fabric also traps heat, making your soil temperature rise dramatically during the summer months. This recipe for disaster leads to a gradual and, in my humble opinion, unnecessary killing off of these tiny superheroes. 🔥
Now let's talk about microplastics. You think landscape fabric is all smooth sailing? Nope! Over time, it degrades into tiny bits of plastic that can contaminate the soil. These microplastics eventually make their way through water beds, rivers, and... ta-da... the oceans. And here's a fun fact: marine wildlife Mistakenly consumes these microplastics, which, if ingested by humans, can lead to serious health issues and even find themselves in our food chain. 🐟💩
Plus, landscape fabric is not exactly a friend to natural cycles. With physical barriers like this in place, dead plant materials can't reach the soil. This blocks the natural deposition of macronutrients like nitrogen through decomposition, slowing the process down and further impacting soil biology. What's more? The lack of water seepage can make your soil compact, creating a situation that is challenging for both plants and gardeners. 😒
Next, let's talk about the inconveniences. Once installed, adding or removing plants becomes a tedious task. Why? Because landscape fabric makes it necessary to cut through layers of fabric, which often gets tangled in roots or tools. 🔪
And speaking of needing to add or remove plants, landscape fabrics are designed to suppress weeds but only for a short period. With time, weed seeds may germinate, and those darn weeds will take over your garden in a blink of an eye. Some aggressive weeds can tear through the fabric too, especially if there's a gap in the mat. 🌱🍑
So, what are your options, then? Glad you asked! Instead of using landscape fabric, experts recommend going for alternatives like cardboard, mulch, or wood chips.
Line your garden with some clean cardboard, soak it, and top it with a healthy mix of new soil and compost. This cardboard will help smother weeds, gradually break down, and feed the soil. Boom! No more synthetic materials to stress about. 🥳
Mulch and compost are also excellent choices for keeping the soil loose and easy to work with. Plus, they provide a carbon source for microorganisms to feed on, helping the soil become more loose and airy. 🌱
Other options include living ground covers like creeping thyme, clover, or sweet woodruff. These guys act as natural groundcovers, creating a dense mat that keeps weeds at bay in a friendly and sustainable way. 🌼
Martha Stewart, a well-known figure in home-and-garden lifestyle, advocates against the use of landscape fabric in gardening. Instead, she suggests sustainable-living alternatives such as cardboard, mulch, or wood chips for garden landscaping. These options are beneficial as they promote soil health by providing a carbon source for beneficial microorganisms and improving soil structure. Furthermore, these alternatives do not pose the threat of microplastics to marine life.
