Landscaping fabric may seem like an easy way to prevent weeds from springing up, but the internet is warning against the material.
Unfortunately, another person is finding out that there’s truth to the old cliche: “If something seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
In the subreddit , a Redditor a photo of a grass lawn dotted with what appears to be ripped-up soil.
“Landscape fabric was a terrible weed suppression idea for trees,” the original poster wrote. “Somehow actual soil even translocated itself on top of the fabric.”
The OP explained that the seedling peach trees could not survive in their area and that they now intend to plant pear trees and other species “won’t be choked out.”
“Trees probably love wood mulch more than anything but it gets really expensive if you’re planting a lot of trees,” they of their initial decision.
Other Redditors commiserated with the OP.
“Landscape fabric is always bad. Learned it the hard way,” one commenter .
“Yeah, it’s really terrible,” another . “… I have one or two 6-7 year old chestnut trees that may have fabric embedded around them. Not good.”
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Another person that choosing landscape fabric ultimately wastes time and money, as the OP is now, unfortunately, finding out. The original poster that they may have to “mow tight” and “live with the grass” for now.
While it sounds like the OP isn’t ready to say goodbye to their grass, and are popular partial lawn-replacement options that could aid the transition and save them money.
Traditional grass yards are already far more labor-intensive than or . In addition to of water every day, they need to be mowed regularly. While and are options, gas-powered mowers are still common.
According to the , running a gas mower for one hour is the equivalent of driving a car 300 miles. That’s a lot of planet-warming pollution entering our atmosphere and .
, on the other hand, don’t need expensive fertilizers or time-consuming mowing, and they require less water because they are adapted to their environments. They also provide food and shelter for , which support more than of our food crops.
It’s unclear if pear trees are native to the OP’s area, but if they decide to sell their property, the future owner will probably be happy that they are taking steps to remove the fabric.
“Awful stuff,” one commenter , sharing that they are still removing landscaping fabric after the previous owner of their house used the material — something others have as well.
“Mulch can be really easy to do and work with,” another Redditor . “2-4 inches out to the drip line and away from the trunk, add a little each year, handpick weeds. It goes a long way.”
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