Homeowner seeks advice to correct landscaping mistake left by previous owner: “Is it too late?”

When it comes to gardening and lawn care, sometimes you get more than you pay for…but not in the way you want.

A homeowner asked on Reddit what the pros and cons were of removing thick landscaping fabric that had been previously installed.

“Will removing the landscape fabric do more harm than good?” they wondered. “There’s a 25-year-old spruce tree growing in the front yard. … After digging a little, I realized the dense root structure growing through the mulch and over the damn fabric. Of course it does, and that’s why I wanted to remove it, but is it too late?”

They then wondered whether tearing off the fabric would not damage the intertwined roots too much.

Fortunately, commentators have provided some advice.

“Get rid of the fabric permanently, but watch out for the roots,” one person wrote. Because if the author didn’t, he warned, “the fabric would eventually get completely clogged like mine (from the previous owners) and no nutrients would be able to get underneath.”

“I spent months slowly removing pieces of landscape fabric from my yard,” another person said. “Since the fabric is gone and I mulched it, all my plants seem to be thriving.”

Landscape fabric can be tempting to new gardeners; it is typically marketed as a way to suppress weeds and is supposed to allow water passage for native and desired plants.

But “if it sounds too good to be true,” says the University of New Hampshire Extension, “it probably is.” On the contrary, it’s not very effective at controlling weeds (weeds are notoriously resilient and can grow through thick fabrics), while simultaneously choking out important native plants.

“I hate this shit too. The previous owner of my house put it everywhere and I have to get out a pickaxe and a box cutter if I want to plant something new or move something that’s already there. It’s evil,” one person wrote.

There is also the problem of plastic. Over time, the fabric degrades and releases microplastics and chemicals into the soil, which can harm the health of the entire area.

Instead, homeowners who want a beautiful yard full of thriving native plants are better off opting for a natural solution: pulling weeds by hand or treating them with chemical-free solutions that don’t use plastic.

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