We all hate weeds and the chore that comes with maintaining them, but did you know that weed fabric is doing you more harm than good? It can cause some serious impacts on your plant’s health and the environment. I know I already sound like another one of those Internet hippies, but hear me out on why you shouldn’t be using weed barrier.

1. It doesn’t even stop the weeds. Ever notice all the yards with weed fabric still have weeds? That’s because the product claiming to stop weeds doesn’t work as well as their marketing teams want you to believe. A few things happen to weed fabric: dirt and dust accumulate on top of the fabric, and weeds are going to grow anyway. Weeds also have tiny roots that can work their way through into the weed fabric. It falls apart over time, and eventually, the weeds are going to get through. Once it falls apart, it just becomes a stringy nightmare to get out.
2. It’s killing your soil health. There are so many insects that need to reach the soil to survive. Even earthworms can die from the fabric. When it rains, those earthworms need to surface to survive. Weed fabric will drown your earthworms. You see dramatically fewer earthworms in your soil with fabric. When using fabric, organic materials also can’t break down into the soil for your roots to use or earthworms to eat. No earthworms, no organic materials means you’re reliant on chemical fertilizers to feed your plants. That’s just a couple of basic reasons your soil is impacted.
3. Native bees need to reach the soil. Your weed fabric is preventing native bees from reaching the soil to build a nest. I’m not talking about stinging types of bees. I’m talking about native solitary bees that are virtually harmless and are also endangered in several areas. You’re building a pollinator garden, but then you use weed fabric to prevent the bees from even living there? Think about that for a second!
4. It’s harmful to your roots. Weed fabric is just a nightmare for the roots you want. Trees, shrubs, and plants get all bound up in the fabric, and in some cases, it can even choke the roots to death. Some roots like to be just below the surface level so they can breathe and dry out. Weed fabric prevents this. Plus, once you want to replace your weed fabric after it falls apart, good luck when the roots are in the fabric. You’ll have to cut your roots out just to get the fabric out.
5. It’s just another source of microplastics in the environment. Let’s face it; it’s plastic, and it’s going to leach more microplastics into our waterways, soil, and maybe even into your food. If you grow vegetables, those micro and nano plastics are being absorbed by your plants. Studies are showing that our plants, especially root vegetables, are soaking up all of those plastics.
6. Weed fabric is preventing carbon dioxide and oxygen exchange in the soil by over 1000 times compared to just wood mulch alone. Weed fabric is literally choking your soil too. The entire soil biome needs to be able to breathe, and this is greatly impacting its ability to do what soil needs to do! It needs to breathe so roots can be healthy and grow.
7. It’s a maintenance nightmare. Did you cut that hole in the fabric big enough the first time? Trees are going to grow, your plants are going to grow, and you may need to go back and cut the hole larger later on if the roots haven’t already grown through it. If you are using groundcover type plants, you’ll need to cut the weed fabric large enough for it to spread. I love using Ice Plants and Creeping Veronica, but they can grow several feet in just a few years. So if you plan on using groundcovers, consider not using weed fabric or cutting most of it out.
8. Replacing it in the future is almost impossible. Most landscapers won’t even replace it for you unless you allow them to come in with a skid and take out 6 inches of soil and everything else with it. This is going to be very costly to have your yard completely scraped and to start all over again. Sadly, I’ve seen far too many landscapers come in and just put more weed fabric over the existing fabric and mulch and then add more mulch. What?! Good luck planting new plants in that!

The moral of the story here is to not use weed fabric barrier. Mulching is a great alternative to weed fabric and is even more effective. Things like wood mulch or rock mulch can be used. My favorite is growing groundcovers as a living wood barrier. There are many options for controlling weeds naturally rather than just using more plastic. I highly stress this to everyone: do not use the stuff!