I'm wondering what's better to use to control weeds. Landscape fabric or a black sheet?

Question

I'm wondering what's better to use to control weeds. Landscape fabric or a black sheet?

Answer 1

without hesitation mesh landscape fabric.  I made the mistake last year of using the black sheet and my vegetables roots were drowning.

Answer 2

Fabric.  Black sheets seal the soil from oxygen and water.  So plants under the plastic slowly starve from oxygen shortage.  We found it took area pine trees about 7 years before they started fading out from oxygen starvation.  

The fabric allows oxygen and water into the soil.  

Also plastic inhibits rainfall from entering the soil, thus contributing to runoff and flooding.

Your mulch will hold better on top of the fabric, it tends to slip off plastic on slopes.  And if you get a real downpour, the rocks will completely wash off the plastic, often taking the plastic with it.  At least the fabric has come "hold."

As for weed control.  Both need to have their seams greatly overlapped to prevent weeds from finding the seams and squirting through.  

The landscape industry has pretty much abandoned plastic except in very specific uses (water direction.)

The main problem with both is wind blown dust settles atop both allowing weeds to germinate on top of the fabric or plastic.

There are different grades of landscape fabric.  Don't skimp.

Answer 3

Landscape fabric.  It will allow water to pass through which your sheet will not.

Answer 4

What everyone else said.  They will both keep the weeds from growing, but the plastic won't allow water to pass into the soil.  Plastic can also cause the ground around the plants to over heat.

Answer 5

I use the landscape fabric and have not been disappointed.

Answer 6

Another very inexpensive alternative is to use old cardboard and newspapers in thick layers.  It works extremely well as an effective weed-blocker, and of course, has the added bonus of re-cycling and saving our trees!  You can place them in several thicknesses of sheets around the plants that you want to maintain, while blocking the weeds from getting any light.  Also, most newspapers now use soy-based inks, which are actually good nourishment for your plants, while keeping out the weeds.

Using cardboard, and newspaper, has been an accepted organic gardening practice for many years now to help extend mulches and help mulches do the job of suppressing "weed" growth better. Other benefits of using cardboard is that soil moisture is retained better than bare soil would, and, because the soil is not exposed to the sun, aids in keeping that soil cooler. A side benefit is that cardboard, as well as newspaper, will add organic matter to the soil.   Another benefit is that it retains moisture, and the earthworms love it, and will be attracted to the area in which you use newsprint.

Several dozens of years ago, the USDA conducted a study using shredded cardboard and newspaper as an alternative fertilizer for field corn.  A "papered" prepped field was compared to an adjacent field that was conventionally/chemically fertilized.  Yields of the "papered" field were much higher than that commercially fertilized...and at much lower cost.  There are many organic gardeners who will attest to the success of using re-cycled newspapers and cardboard.  

Good luck on the battle with your weed problem, every gardener's dread!

Answer 7

Landscaping fabric for the same reason as above.  over time weeds will still germinate in any soil on top of the fabric, though.  use a pre-emergent weed control each spring in the areas to help prevent this.

Answer 8

Neither.  A nice light-occlusive mulch that will rot and enrich the soil.  Landscape fabrics (which are generally petroleum based synthetics) and plastic sheets just deteriorate and have to be gathered up and thrown away.

Answer 9

I've never had much luck with landscape fabric -- after a year or two, weeds have grown through.

I use the newspaper method mentioned above. Several layers work well, and last at least as long as good cedar mulch. When you need to re-mulch, you re-paper.

Often times, you can pick up free newspapers from your local newspaper office. They always have leftovers.