Whether you call it landscaping fabric, weed block or weed barrier fabric, ask any landscaper or gardener how they feel about its use and they’ll probably have a strong opinion.
Landscape fabric is often promoted as the solution to the bane of every gardener’s existence – weeds. Not only does it supposedly block unwanted weed growth, but best of all, you don’t have to worry about weeding for what seems like years.
Unfortunately, and like with many advertised products, this isn’t exactly true.
Landscaping fabric definitely has its pros and cons when it comes to its use.
Pros of Landscape Fabric
Some of the benefits of using landscaping fabric include:
Keeps inorganic mulches like rocks from sinking into the soil.
Prevents weed seeds covered by fabric from sprouting.
Reduces the need for herbicidal weed control.
Works well on slopes where erosion is a problem.
Helps the soil retain moisture.
Cons of Landscape Fabric
Some of the cons of using landscaping fabric include:
Over time, decomposing particles of mulch and soil clog the perforations in the cloth, which keep adequate amounts of water and air from reaching the plant roots leading to the plant’s decline.
Earthworms, which aerate the soil, don’t develop, leading to compacted and unhealthy soil.
The fabric acts as a barrier to organic materials biodegrading in the soil, which lead to an unhealthier soil structure.
Weeds can still grow in the mulch used to cover the fabric.
Landscape fabric is time-consuming to install, especially around existing plantings.
Is Landscape Fabric the Right Choice for Your Project?
If used properly and in the best situations, landscaping fabric does have its benefits, but it does have its drawbacks.
Although it might work for a time in reducing weeds in an area, the unwanted growth eventually rears its ugly head despite the weed barrier.
Over time, you also end up with soil that isn’t as healthy, which can affect your plants and their health.
Something else worth noting: Landscape fabric won’t last forever.
Landscaping fabric generally works as a weed barrier for a year or less before its usefulness starts declining.
In fact, and according to the University of Florida, its long-term use can negatively affect soil and plant health and is best used where ornamental plants aren’t growing like pathways or around mailboxes.
First, remove all the weeds from the area you want to cover. Then roll out the weed mat onto your garden bed and cut it to size with scissors. Now peg it in place using either metal or plastic pegs. If your ground is a bit hard, you might need to use a hammer.
Put plants in through the weed matting
Now place each plant pot on top of the weed mat and trace a circle around it with your marker. Draw an “X” inside the circle and cut along those lines. Now fold back the four corners to make the hole for your plant. Once you have done all your planting, finish by covering the matting with 5-10cm of mulch.
What Is the Difference between Needle Punched Cotton and Non-Woven Fabric?
Needle-punched cotton belongs to the non-woven industry. Needle-punched cotton is a kind of non-woven fabric, including many non-woven fabrics, such as spun lace, needle punch, hot air, spun-bond, melt blown, electrostatic spinning, stitch-bonding, wet method, etc. Needle-punched cotton is made of polyester fiber through a non-woven needle punching process. It is also through the opening, mixing, carding, laying, needle punching, and winding of polyester fibers into cloth. But everyone is called needle-punched cotton, but they are not familiar with needle-punched cotton as non-woven fabric. The range of non-woven fabrics is very large, which is a cross-category between traditional crafts. For example, spunbond is close to the plastics industry. The wet process is close to the paper industry. Needling is close to the carpet industry. Below, the non-woven fabric manufacturers share the differences between the two.
1. Different raw materials
Needle-punched cotton: The raw material of needle-punched cotton is polyester fiber.
Non-woven fabric: The raw material of the non-woven fabric is polypropylene pellets, oriented or random fibers.
2. Different production methods
Needle-punched cotton: Needle-punched cotton is made by needle-punching fibers directly into flakes without weaving.
Non-woven fabrics: Non-woven fabrics are produced by a continuous one-step process of high-temperature melting, spinning, laying, and hot-pressing of raw materials.
3. The characteristics are different
Needle-punched cotton: Needle-punched cotton has the characteristics of high density, thin thickness, and firm texture.
Non-woven fabric: Non-woven fabric has the characteristics of flexibility, lightweight, non-combustibility, easy decomposition, non-toxic, and non-irritating.
4. Different applications
Needle-punched cotton: Needle-punched cotton can be used not only in the field of clothing, but also in industries, filtration, automobiles, air coolers, furniture, home textiles, medical care products, cushions, and thermal insulation series.
Non-woven fabrics: Non-woven fabrics can be used in medical, health, agriculture, clothing, and other fields, as well as in construction and aerospace fields.
In general, the difference between needle-punched cotton and the non-woven fabric is that the raw materials are different, the production methods are different, and the characteristics are different.
Silt Fencing
The purpose of silt fencing is to detain runoff flows so that deposition of transported sediment can occur through settlement. They are not used to filter sediment out of runoff.
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