Installing and laying down landscape fabric is probably the easiest and most effective method for fighting weeds. Weed seeds cannot germinate in your soil or take root above it.
The porous nature of landscape fabric allows air, water, and nutrients to soak into the soil feeding your beneficial plants. At the same time, it blocks sunlight from entering the soil, which starves pesky weeds and prevents them from growing.
Even though landscape fabric can be used on its own, it is beneficial to cover it with decorative rock, mulch, or ground cover. By separating the soil from the cover material, the stone remains clean. Mulch also takes longer to decompose into the soil.
It is essential to know how to lay landscape fabric around plants with little effort. Let’s look at how to do it.
Laying Landscape Fabric Around Plants
Begin by measuring your planting area. Rolls of landscape fabric are available in various lengths and widths, including 3x50ft, 3x100ft, 4x100ft, and more.
If you have measured the area, you will need to ensure that the landscape fabric you are using is the correct size mesh for the area around your plants. You need a mesh with small enough holes to prevent weeds and invasive plants from growing through them and large enough to allow water and air to penetrate through and nourish the plant roots you are growing.
Effective landscape fabric will also allow fertilizer to penetrate and reach the plants. If you place the material in an area that is protected from sunlight, it should last forever and prevent soil erosion.
Choose a landscaping fabric that is thermally spun-bonded if you can. It has been proven that these kinds of materials prevent the growth of weeds much better than loosely woven or needle-punched fabrics.
Plastic sheeting should never be used to stop weeds. Though they can stop the growth of weeds, they also prevent water and air from soaking into the soil and nourishing your plants. You will suffocate and kill the plants you’re trying to protect.
It’s time to prepare the soil. Get rid of grass, weeds, and unwanted plants around the area of your plants. Rake out any stones and twigs from the soil after that. Sharp rocks left behind will tear through the fabric, ruining its integrity and efficacy.
Next, place the fabric down in a straight line. Make a notch that fits around the base of your plants as soon as it reaches the plant area. The notch should be adjusted to surround the base of the plant. Continue laying the fabric out for all the plants in the bed and notching it.
You must then secure the fabric with the proper landscape pegs, pins, or staples after it has been laid out completely. It would help if you used enough fasteners, placing them no more than 5 feet apart.
As the landscape fabric can’t be left uncovered, the final step involves covering it with protective material. Most people opt for mulch or decorative stones. You can also use tree bark if you prefer a more natural, organic look.
Rake the fabric, but be careful not to snag or tear it with the prongs of the rake. By removing the stones from the fabric and hosing them down once a month, you should clean them.
Landscape fabric is a barrier to weeds, but not all weed barriers are landscape fabric. Plastic barriers that are thin and cheap are readily available, but they are of inferior quality to landscape fabrics. They also tear easily.
Cheap material must be replaced sooner which adds to the long-term cost. However, high-quality landscape fabric will generally last you longer, and it will also resist tearing and damage caused by the sun. Some landscape fabrics can last as long as 20 years.
Landscape fabrics can be used repeatedly, which is one of their most significant advantages. To change the area you cover with mulch and fabric, simply remove the mulch, release the fabric, dust off any soil on top, roll or fold the fabric up, and store it away. Even though it is dirty, it still works just as well as new fabric.
The majority of quality landscape fabrics on the market are made from spun synthetic fibers that block sunlight and allow air and water to pass through. Tools, sharp rocks, and roots can still damage the material. This means that you need to rake and smooth the ground before you lay the fabric. The vast majority of fabrics are resistant to UV rays, but if they’re kept out of direct sunlight, they’ll last even longer.