The new home owners were excited to plant their new garden, but were dismayed to find that the previous owners had used thick, plant-smothering plastic sheeting and cloth in all of their flower beds.
They posted on the subreddit r/gardening asking for advice on getting rid of whatever was causing the weeds to grow. “Would it be a bad idea to remove the barrier?” they wrote. “I would pull the weeds anyway, but since they're just sitting on the barrier, it doesn't seem like it would be very effective.”
Commenters' advice was unanimous: “Break it.[s] “It'll be a nightmare to delete later,” one person argued.
“You'd be better off removing the fabric,” agreed another. “The fabric starts to deteriorate after a couple of years and becomes very difficult to remove as it's tattered. And while it doesn't keep out weeds, it makes it more difficult to remove them as their roots will crawl through the fabric.”
One commenter had inherited a similar nightmare situation.
“Remove it now,” they warned. “I worked on a yard where the previous owner had put that rubbish there about five years ago. Not only did the plastic prevent the plants from rooting properly, it had partially collapsed so it couldn't even be pulled off in one piece, and when it was pulled off over the course of several days, the whole yard was ripped apart with plastic. … Landscaping plastic can be a nightmare.”
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Plastic sheeting and heavy fabrics are not only a nuisance for gardeners, they are also harmful to entire local ecosystems. By stunting plant growth, these materials remove habitat and food sources for local pollinators. This in turn has an impact on the human food chain, as pollinators account for one-third of the food we eat.
Plastic is also known to leach toxic chemicals into the soil, which can harm both the plants that grow in the soil, the animals that eat them, and humans.
🗣️ Which of the following benefits motivates you most to garden? 🔘 Getting outside more 🌱 🔘 Growing healthy food 🥕 🔘 Making my yard more beautiful 🏡 🔘 Not gardening 🚫 🗳️ To see your results, click on the options and tell us what you think
Luckily, gardeners looking to spruce up their yards have plenty of effective, soil-safe, plastic-free ways to control weeds. From pulling weeds by the roots to making natural homemade herbicides, it's possible to eliminate weeds while leaving room for native plants and vegetable patches to thrive.
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