Landscaping professional issues warning about harmful impacts of commonly used product: 'We don't use it'

A landscaping professional has come to settle one of the most contentious debates in gardening.

In a YouTube video, Garrett Matthews — founder of Matthews Landscape (@MatthewsLandscape), a lawn care company located in Shreveport, Louisiana — spends a few minutes debunking the commonly held belief that landscaping fabrics help your plants grow and prevent weed growth.

"Many of you have heard of landscape fabric, but we wanted to tell you why we DON'T use it at our landscape business," the video's caption reads. "The fabric deteriorates after about six months. The areas around the plants that don't have fabric still allow weeds. It hinders water from getting to your plants' roots. It limits oxygen getting to your plants. Fertilizer tends to collect on top of the landscape fabric instead of going into the soil. After about six months, weeds start growing on top of the landscape fabric anyway."

In short, though designed to prevent weed growth, landscaping fabric not only fails at that task, but it often prevents desired plant growth as well. 

That makes it a waste of money for gardeners and, since many landscaping fabrics contain plastic, can also prove harmful to plants and soil even beyond the reasons Matthews highlighted. For example, microplastics can leach chemicals into soil.

All in all, these negative effects on plants can result in significant damage to the ecosystem in your yard and even your neighbors' yards, depending on how much of a garden or lawn you share with them.

Suffice it to say, using landscape fabric does far more harm to your plants than it does good. A much easier and more efficient way to garden is by introducing native plants. A natural lawn can save you significant money and time on maintenance and can lower water bills.

In addition, they also create a healthier ecosystem for pollinators, which benefits everyone, as pollinators protect the food supply. Even a partial lawn replacement can provide these same benefits.

"It's not really worth it," Matthews concludes. "The juice isn't worth the squeeze."

If you were to switch from a grass lawn to a more natural option, which of these factors would be your primary motivation? Making it look better 🌱 Saving money on water and maintenance 💰 Helping pollinators 🐝 No way I ever get rid of my lawn 🚫 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

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