The Cool Down
Gardener reveals why you should never use common landscaping tool: 'It's a nigh…
One TikTok video just made it clear: landscape fabric is terrible for the environment.
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Why Landscape Fabric Harms Your Garden and the Environment: Insights from a Native Plant Nursery
A recent video from Amelia's Natives Wildflowers, a plant nursery, sheds light on the environmental and ecological drawbacks of using landscape fabric in gardens. The nursery, known for its focus on native plants, advocates for alternative methods to promote healthier ecosystems. The video outlines seven primary reasons to avoid landscape fabric. Firstly, it highlights the issue of microplastics and 'forever chemicals' leaching into the environment from the fabric. Secondly, it restricts essential air and water flow, creating an unhealthy environment for beneficial microbes, fungi, and insects crucial for soil health. While initially suppressing weeds, soil and organic matter eventually accumulate on top of the fabric, allowing weeds to root through it and making removal more difficult in the long run. Furthermore, landscape fabric impedes the natural propagation of plants that reseed or spread, thereby limiting biodiversity. Tree roots can also become trapped or tangled in the fabric, leading to girdling or shallow root systems that are more vulnerable to drought and wind. The video emphasizes that natural mulches are designed to decompose and feed the soil, unlike fabric. Lastly, fabric increases water runoff, preventing slow water soaking and potentially leading to the loss of nutrients and topsoil. The video concludes by stressing the most important reason to avoid landscape fabric: its negative impact on wildlife, underscoring the nursery's commitment to regenerative gardening and supporting local ecosystems.
