Lowes Fabric (2024)

FAQs

What can I use instead of landscape fabric? ›

You can use cardboard, newspaper, burlap, ground cover plants, straw, pine needles, grass clippings, wood chips and bark mulch instead of the plastic-based landscape fabric from the local garden store.

With landscape fabric, the entire roll is full of pores. This makes it so that areas that are not even holding a plant can still absorb water.

Yes, you can use landscape fabric to suppress weeds. It works by creating a barrier between the soil and the weed, preventing light and water from reaching the weed. Be sure to overlap the fabric and use a lot of pins to secure it in place. Additionally, you should remove existing weeds before installing the fabric.

Unless the subgrade is poor, most gravel driveways don't need landscape fabric. For gravel driveways, landscape fabric makes the most sense when you need to stabilize the ground that you're placing the gravel on top of.

Using Garbage Bags as a Weed Barrier

By blocking sunlight and retaining moisture, garbage bags create an inhospitable environment for weeds, allowing plants to thrive without competition for resources.

Cardboard weed barriers are a better option for vegetable gardens where crop rotation necessitates that the plants in the plot be moved around regularly to combat plant pathogens in the soil. Many larger vegetable plants also have deep roots that you would have to cut a landscaping fabric to allow for.

First, it can be hard for water to get through the fabric and down to the soil. This means your plant could be drying out, even if you are applying water around it. And second, if you happen to have slow draining soil (or have applied a lot of water in response to wilting), the weed fabric will worsen the problem.

The use of landscape fabric is a common practice among professional landscapers. It is often used as a base layer for mulch or decorative rock and under pavers or walkways to help prevent weeds from growing through the cracks.

It's best to use landscape fabric under inorganic materials such as rock, gravel, or sand. Landscape fabrics are less effective when used under organic mulch such as wood chips or bark. As this mulch decomposes, it effectively creates a new layer of soil above the landscape fabric.

It's a more long-term solution compared to landscape fabric if you're trying to get rid of weeds or elevate the way your landscape looks. Landscape tarp is a versatile product that can help with weed control, decorating, hardscaping, and more.

Does rain go through landscape fabric? ›

Yes, landscape fabric is entirely water permeable. Landscape fabric is made up of thin strands of plastic that are woven together and allow water and air through it. In heavy rain events, landscape fabric will drain water slower than usual, but it does not entirely stop water from draining.

In addition to making weed control difficult, landscape fabric can also prevent water from getting to plant roots. Over time, small particles of soil or mulch can fill in the small pore spaces in the landscape fabric, reducing the amount of water that reaches the soil beneath.

Mulching with Bedsheets

Gardeners who have switched from cardboard to a double fold of old bedsheets as a base layer say the cloth is more permeable to infiltration by rain and less slippery underfoot. Best of all, garden-worthy cotton sheets are easy to find at garage sales.

Non-permeable covering like plastic sheets will interfere with the exchange of air, water, and nutrients between the soil and the atmosphere. This means the product will not only smother the weeds but will also smother the crops. The plastic sheet could raise the soil temperature too much so cut slits for the plants.