do you like weed barrier or not?

CantWait2Be

Do you find it actually makes much of a difference?  We currently have it but I'm still constantly pulling weeds anyways and sometimes I find it hard to pull because the root will run a long ways down the barrier.  Plus when I want to plant something I need to bring something along to cut through it.  Before we go to the measure of pulling the barrier up I wanted to get opinions on if you like it or not and how much of a difference it makes.  tia

kylara111

They're useless IMO.  Like you said they don't really keep the weeds out.  They also make planting more difficult and I've seen plant roots get totally wound up in it.

karome

Personally, I only use it in areas where I know I never plan on putting plants (like under gravel walkways and bark covered paths) since any cut in the barrier is a way for weeds to grow through.

I just spent several hours pulling up all the cut, falling apart, not tacked down well weed barrier the previous owners of our home had put down since it was all torn. coming up from under the mulch and was not keeping weeds from coming up.  It was a giant pain in the arse. 

 

classicchas

HATE IT. Don't  do it. Use several sheets of newspaper if you'd like a blocker, wet em down before putting down soil.

We put in weed blocker a few years ago, I tear it out everytime I come across it.

hoping4septimus

I have it under my rock patio... but I don't like it anywhere I'm going to plant. Weeding isn't really hard.

curlydoglover

In garden beds, no.  It's fairly pointless and more of a nuisance than a help.

On raised vegetable beds? Love it. We use it every year on ours and it helps SO much.

I also consider it essential in areas for patios or gravel walkways.

nitaw

I don't use it in my flower beds. I love to plant annuals each year, so I get annoyed with having to deal with the fabric. I walk my flower beds nearly every day and yank out weeds when I see them. 

For raised veggie beds, I agree with curlydoglover. It would be helpful. For my veggie raised beds, I used a biodegradable landscape fabric and cardboard boxes as a barrier between the bed and the ground underneath. It's working wonderfully.  

Dr.Loretta

Not. It has never made much of a difference for me. A good layer of mulch is preferable.

~NB~

I do not believe in weed barriers.

Landscape fabric is for use under hardscape. It was invented to keep the soil from moving or eroding under patios and paths or terrace work. One day someone got the idea to market it as "weed barrier" and made millions of dollars promoting it for that purpose, but weeds don't work that way. They blow on wind current, land everywhere, and germinate where they land.

The same week you lay it down, a hundred thousand weed seeds will land on top of it, and on top of you new mulch, and most of them will germinate.

goldenjes

I actually use it for my vegetable garden.  I didn't have to pull hardly any weeds last year.  I do think it warmed the soil too much for certain plants though.