Landscaping fabric without mulch?

10 years ago

Hello,

We have a side hill that's really overgrown with weeds. It's about 10 feet tall by 100 feet long and maybe 30 degrees steep. About twice a year I go and pull out or cut down all the trees that have sprouted, usually a dozen or two, between 1 and 4 feet tall. But this is really a hassle because the entire hill is overgrown with poison ivy; even when I go and cut/pull trees at the very end of winter, long before the poison starts growing, I still get the rash on my skin.

I've had a couple landscaping companies tell me it would be thousands of dollars to clear the hill and get something like ground cover planted... but even then they say the weeds will probably still come back.

At this point my primary goal is just to stop having to cut out trees all the time. Aside from the fact that we don't have thousands of dollars to spend on this, we're also not terribly concerned about having "weeds" (i.e. native vegetation) there; we just don't want to spend so much time and effort maintaining the weeds.

So what's the cheapest, easiest way to stop or at least greatly slow the weed growth? I'm thinking of just covering the whole hill in landscaping fabric. Lowe's sells this gray woven landscape fabric (Tyvar brand, I think?), the kind that lets air and water through, with a 15-year warranty, which I could cover the whole hill with for about $100. But the issue is, the hill is too steep to cover with mulch; it would all just slide to the bottom. My question is, if I just install the landscaping fabric (pinned down) with nothing on top of it, how effective would that be?

Or what about thick black plastic sheeting instead? But I think the sun will destroy that quicker than the fabric, right?

I did spray an entire large (~2 gallon?) pump full of Round-Up onto the hill last year; it took forever and had virtually no effect on the weeds. I think they briefly turned yellow like they were dying, but came back just as strong a week or two later. And I'd rather avoid herbicides if possible.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (7)

jean001a
10 years ago
Landscape fabrics and/or plastic won't work. An instant method for sheets of water moving down the hill and causing severe erosion at the foot of the slope.

For Roundup to be effective, you must apply it at the correct time -- when the photosynthetically produced sugars are moving into the roots. Generally that's at or just prior to bloom.
If applied during the growing season, the stuff moves upward in the plant, turning it yellow -- the plant survives.
0
PRO
Whitelacey
10 years ago
Why not let the trees grow? What kind are they?
0
Related Discussions
Landscape fabric mulch - dos and don'ts?
Q
Comments (9)
I completely hate the use of landscape fabric. It completely blocks the connection between the organic mulch I pile on top with the soil underneath. Considering that my yard was of lot of weeds a little over two years ago, and now I have nice garden beds everywhere, you'd think that maybe I'd have a weed problem, but I don't. I just ground up leaves and piled them on top of the soil everywhere - thickly. The soil underneath has improved immensely over those two years, to be an active vibrant soil. I've seen soil under landscape fabric, and for the most part it has been a horrible thing. Except when new seeds are sprouting, I just don't leave bare soil in my yard. It stays covered with a thick layer of mulch. Things that are really bad, like the sedges, and even bermuda grass or crab grass, will just grow through or around landscape fabric. Other seeds start sprouting in the mulch you've piled on top of the fabric, sending roots into fabric. Although for the most part I like pulling weeds, because I don't have the fabric, I can easily walk through my gardens with a hoe to knock down weeds quickly and effectively,
...See More
Black Plastic vs. landscape fabric mulch
Q
Comments (3)
Plastic is used by many commercial growers to aid in increasing yields. I have seen black, opaque white, red, and clear plastic used for this purpose. However, plastic if left in place too long can create anaerobic conditions in the soil and will require a system to water the growing plants, most often what I have seen is a drip irrigation system under the plastic that also will deliver a nutrient solution. Plastic can stop air exchange in the soil and will prevent water from reaching the soil. Landscape fabrics mostly will allow some air to reach the soil as well as water, although those openings in the fabric can allow unwanted plant growth to occur. As a rule landscape fabrics are laid down and covered with a mulch material and may serve a purpose of allowing less mulch material (2 inches instead of 4) to be used to accomplish the same thing. Neither material contributes anything worthwhile to the soil and both are made from non renewable resources. A better material to use as a block for unwanted plant growth, an aid to water conservation, and an aid to keeping the soil cooler, and something that can add organic matter to the soil is paper, either newspaper or cardboard.
...See More
alternative to mulch over landscape fabric
Q
Comments (8)
Lucia, I use the fabric/wood chip method also and I find that about every 3-5 years I need to scoop out the old disintigrating mulch and add it to my compost pile. Then, of course, I need to bring in fresh wood chips to cover the cloth again. I know that a lot of folks don't advocate using landscape cloth, but I find when it is used only in pathways and areas where you don't plan on growing plants it works quite well. I use only a layer of compost or leaves on top of the soil in my raised vegetable beds. So far we've converted about 1000 square feet of our back yard to a raised bed/landscape fabric & wood chip area. This part of the yard was the worst in terms of weeds before we began, with a combination of a deep-rooted dock species, Bermuda grass and bindweed. At first I needed to run around with a bottle of round-up every couple of weeks and "hit" the bindweed and Bermuda grass that wanted to penetrate the cloth, but I haven't had to do that for the past few years. Now I only spend maybe five minutes a week weeding the area, pulling out the stray plants that try to take a hold in the mulch. Here's what the area looked like just before Thanksgivings Day this past fall... I don't think that you'll find any method that doesn't require some kind of occasional upkeep... Mike
...See More
Plastic? black? Red? mulch? Landscape fabric?
Q
Comments (5)
I have tried a number of different mulches. Don't like the black plastic, especially if you don't cover it. I put my drip irrigation under it and the covered it with wheat straw. At end of year you have to get it out of garden and don't break down. Next level is landscape fabric which is better, but still don't break down. Can put the drip lines on top and will get down ok. I am evolving to putting plants down and taking old newspaper print (non color) around the plants (about 4 or 5 layers and then cover with mulch.) My favorite is cedar mulch (non colored) or wheat straw. Don't like hay as may have too many weed seeds in it. There have been some studies I have seen that commercial producers have been using red plastic on tomatoes and has really increased production, however, mostly in greenhouse conditions as plastic not covered with mulch. Haven't tried it, but may try one bed to see if it makes a difference. Think it has to do with UV rays. Don't know all the particulars. Downside of a lot of these is cost. I
...See More
nodivisions
Original Author
10 years ago
Well, the foot of the slope is a street. I can see how plastic sheeting would result in lots of runoff, but wouldn't the fabric (which is porous and designed to allow water to pass through) be much better in this regard?

I didn't know Round-Up had to be applied at a certain time like that -- thanks.

I don't want to let the trees grow because they're about 3 feet from the street, in a steep rocky hill, which seems like a liability at best, if not a disaster waiting to happen. Plus they'd be shading the south side of our yard where our garden is. I don't know what kind of trees they are.
0
jean001a
10 years ago
The label tells the dose and timing.
0
hortster
10 years ago
Touted to allow water and air through, landscape fabrics do - but not as much as soil covered by mulch or turf. They still create more runoff when by themselves.

But, the other concern is that most of them are black - creating much more heat when hit by the sun, drying soil beneath more quickly and creating more heat for foliage of wanted plants to deal with.

Not to mention the visual effect.

Maybe an alternative would be a "weed torch" used on the trees? Seems like either that or concrete...
0
nodivisions
Original Author
10 years ago
Torching the weeds isn't an option due to local ordinances, plus from what I understand, burning poison ivy is a bad idea.

The landscape fabric I mentioned here is actually gray, not black, so it should generate somewhat less heat. And there won't be any wanted plants in the vicinity, so I'm not really worried about that, nor am I especially worried about the appearance -- plain gray landscape fabric probably won't look amazing, but it already doesn't look amazing since it's just a weed-overgrown hill.

The problem that I had in mind, but no one has brought up, is the efficacy of the landscape fabric for actually killing the weeds or preventing their growth. Would landscape fabric accomplish that with no mulch on top? Or would the weeds just grow straight through it?
0
patty_cakes
10 years ago
Do NOT use landscape fabric, no matter what the color is! My grandson and I spent 2 days pulling up the 3 rolls I had a landscaper put down 1 1/2 years ago because of severe weeds growing right thru it. My sister used an old rug, cutting it in pieces, and hasn't had a weed since. The only downside is if you plan on putting in new plants, you will have to cut the carpet for a space to plant. Cardboard is another alternative, but I've heard newspaper breaks down easier.

If you think you might want to try rugs, there's plenty of them at thrift stores~use one of those sharp blade tools for cutting. Probably less money than the landscaping fabric and a lot less frustrating.
0

Landscaping fabric without mulch?

Comments (7)

jean001a

Whitelacey

Related Discussions

nodivisions
Original Author

jean001a

hortster

nodivisions
Original Author

patty_cakes

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Landscaping fabric without mulch?

Comments (7)

jean001a

Whitelacey

Related Discussions

nodivisionsOriginal Author

jean001a

hortster

nodivisionsOriginal Author

patty_cakes

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

nodivisions
Original Author

nodivisions
Original Author