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Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteers of Buncombe County

General Gardening

Weed Solutions: Is Landscape Fabric a Good Idea?

September 4, 2023

After a hot, rainy summer, weeds may be overtaking much of your landscape. As you cool off surfing the internet or cruising the aisles of garden centers and big box stores, you may see all kinds of landscape fabrics promising you a weed-free future. Resist! Although it seems logical that physical barriers are an ideal solution to weeds populating unplanted garden areas, they almost never work.

What are weed-blocking products?
Landscape fabrics are typically sold in rolls of woven plastic fiber material or spun polyester (like row cover materials used for providing shade, insect exclusion, or frost protection). These products are touted as permanent barriers that prevent weeds while remaining permeable to water and nutrients; neither remains true over time.

Typical installation requires several steps:

  • Remove all existing weeds and prepare the area for any new planting.
  • Measure and cut sheets to cover bare earth in garden areas, overlapping the fabric, when necessary.
  • If there are existing plants, you will need to fit the fabric around them or make holes that will
    fit over these plants when you install the fabric.
  • Secure the fabric with staples.
  • After adding any additional plants, top the fabric with mulch to conceal the fabric and help keep it in place.

Why they don’t work as intended:
Although these landscape products may initially work as advertised, they usually quickly fail in many ways!

The fabrics themselves often become problematic:

Photo by Robin Stinkney, 2023
Roots of trees and shrubs, in search of nutrients may become entangled in the fabric
    • Shifting or eroding mulch often exposes the fabric, which is unsightly and becomes more vulnerable to deterioration.
    • Eventually the pores that permit exchange of water and nutrients clog with debris—researchers find that this clogging also affects the exchange of carbon dioxide, potentially harming plant roots, microbes, and other critters living in the soil!
    • Planting and other activities may create tears or fragment the fabric, making it not only easier for weeds to grow up through it, but also more difficult to remove or replace.
    • The mulch and other debris on top of the fabric also provide a place for weed seeds to sprout and prosper. Their roots attempt to grow through the fabric and become so attached that trying to remove them dislodges and/or tears the material.

Alternatives to landscape fabrics
If you want to prevent weeds, organic mulches applied regularly suppress many weeds and help improve your soil. If you are already battling weeds, consider the variety of ways you can reduce these problems in the future including learning to identify which plants are weeds and prioritizing removing those that are most problematic.

Article written by Debbie Green, Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteer

For more information:
Alternative weed control strategies:
https://www.buncombemastergardener.org/weeds-overwhelming-cope/

Research on the impact of landscape fabrics:
https://gardenprofessors.com/landscape-fabric-a-cautionary-tale/

Removing landscape fabric:
https://extension.psu.edu/putting-an-end-to-my-landscape-fabric-nightmare

Benefits of organic mulches:
https://www.buncombemastergardener.org/mulches-choose-improve-soil/

 

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Categories General Gardening Tags landscape fabric, weed block products, weed control

Native Butterfly Lifecycles in the Fall Garden, September 14

August 31, 2023

The Learning Garden presents:
Sun & Shade Garden Series: Native Butterfly Lifecycles in the Fall Garden
Caterpillar of a Gulf Fritillary butterfly, munching on a Passion Flower Vine. Photo by John Fieselman

Thursday, September 14, 2023
10:00 – 11:30 a.m.

NC Cooperative Extension
Buncombe County Center
49 Mount Carmel Road
Asheville, NC 28806

Presenters: The Sun & Shade Garden Team

This in-person program will showcase native butterfly and moth host plants in the Sun & Shade garden, and the pollinators they attract. Beyond providing nectar sources, host plants are a major food source for pollinator caterpillars.  Caterpillars are voracious and very picky eaters, eating only specific host plants.  During the program we will view the life cycle stages of the butterflies and moths on these native host plants, including caterpillars, eggs, chrysalis and adults. To see an example of the types of pollinators attendees will see during this program, click here .

A portion of this class will be in the garden, please dress appropriately for the weather.

Registration: Seating is limited and registration is required. Please click on the link below to register. If you encounter problems registering or if you have questions, call 828-255-5522

Register on Eventbrite

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Categories General Gardening Tags butterfly lifecycle, native butterfly host plants, pollinators

Have a Gardening Question? Contact the Helpline!

March 6, 2023

The Garden Helpline is open for 2023.

Extension Master GardenerSM volunteers will be staffing the Helpline as indicated in the schedule below. You may send an email or leave a voicemail at any time and an Extension Master Gardener volunteer will respond during Garden Helpline hours. When emailing, please include a photo if it helps describe your garden question. Soil test kits can be picked up at the Extension office, 24/7. The kits are located in a box outside the front door.

Three ways to contact the Garden Helpline
Call 828-255-5522
Email questions and photos to buncombemg@gmail.com
Visit the Extension Office at 49 Mt. Carmel Road during Helpline hours, listed below.

Garden Helpline Hours

March – (starts March 6)
Monday 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 Noon
Thursday 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

April through September:
Monday 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Tuesday 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 Noon
Wednesday 12:00 Noon – 2:00 p.m.
Thursday 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

October – (ends October 26th) 
Monday 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 Noon
Thursday 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

We are here to help and support you! Please contact us. We look forward to answering your gardening questions.

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Categories General Gardening Tags Garden Helpline, gardening questions, Helpline

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Recent Posts

  • Online Seminar: Container Gardening – Seasonal Transitions, September 21
  • Weed Solutions: Is Landscape Fabric a Good Idea?
  • Saturday Seminar: Bulbs for all Seasons, September 16
  • Native Butterfly Lifecycles in the Fall Garden, September 14
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