Why landscape fabric is not necessary in your mulch beds
When using mulch in your landscape, there is no need for the use of artificial weed barrier such as plastic or landscape fabric. These materials do not work and are not weed barriers. They are only necessary under stone. That is to prevent the soil from mixing with the stone. When mulch is maintained at an even depth between two and four inches it will properly serve as a weed barrier. Also, the mulch will naturally break down and incorporate with the soil through matters such as earthworms, microorganisms, and other insects. This adds nutrients and organic material to your plants and the surrounding soil which is very important to sustaining the health of your landscape.
In many cases when artificial material is used under mulch you can clearly see a night and day difference between what is above the plastic and what is below. The material above the plastic is soft, rich, dark, and full of nutrients. The soil below is hard and grey with virtually no nutrients. It looks as if it is suffocated. It also provides no protection against weeds proven by the fact that we see weeds everyday growing through thick layers of concrete and blacktop on commercial property. In the event that weeds do occur in your mulch they are much easier to pick out and maintain when there is not a layer of thick plastic holding them in the ground.
If you have any further questions please contact Beautiful Blooms Landscape and weo2 starved soil would be happy to explain further.
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On Tuesday, May 07, 2019, Linda William wrote:
Thank you for the info. My husband had placed plastic under the mulch in our flower bed to prevent weeds and I was concerned about the flowers not getting enough water. After reading this article he removed the plastic. Thank you for the useful info.
I plan to use cedar mulch over my front yard. I read that cedar deter pest, and termites does not like cedar. So do you just kept adding mulch over the years after it breaks down and how often do you water mulch? Does non cedar mulch attracts termites?
From Iowa. I put black fabric in my flower bed and added 3-4 inches of mulch. I then planted black eyed Susans. They are always wilted. Is the fabric keeping them to hot?
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