Homeowner makes distressing discovery after digging into yard: 'Not sure what to do now'

A gardener on Reddit showed the struggle of dealing with past landscaping mistakes, highlighting the issue with a common lawn material that does more harm than good.

"Removing landscape fabric (calm down, I didn't put it in in the first place)… this is just pure compacted clay," they stated in the post, accompanied by a photo of the hard, infertile ground in their yard.

Lawn care experts have continued to warn about the impacts of using yard fabric, sometimes referred to as weed fabric or landscaping fabric. Since weeds can grow right through it, it doesn't do its intended job and instead suffocates soil and ruins plant life. 

Plus, like this Reddit user, gardeners have found the fabric in their yards is extremely hard to get rid of.

The OP added context in the comments, saying: "This picture shows about 1 ft deep. We actually dug another foot, and it's still like this. Not sure what to do now... I just feel so defeated if I have an entire yard of this."

While landscaping items such as yard fabric or even pesticides can be marketed to make you think they will improve your lawn, the truth is that less is more. Instead of reaching for expensive items or those with toxic chemicals, try rewilding your yard. 

By planting native plants, you will eliminate the need for complicated, often unhelpful accoutrements from a home improvement store, as your garden will take care of itself in the area it has evolved to thrive in, and you will be contributing to your local ecosystem and supporting pollinators.

Commenters shared advice for the gardener dealing with the long-term effects of someone else's yard fabric misstep.

"Found the same thing in our front garden beds. It was a lasagna of landscape fabric/river rock/fabric/river rock/hard dead clay," one user said. "We ended up hiring a local landscaping crew with an excavator to help remove all of the junk and replace with topsoil/compost mix."

A native plant enthusiast added: "You might be surprised at the results if you soak the ground and bare-root plant natives. Lots of natives love clay soil and can deal with compaction."

What's the hardest thing about taking care of your yard? Mowing the lawn 🏡 Controlling weeds 🌿 Keeping pests at bay 🐿️ I don't have a yard 🤷 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

Join our free newsletter for easy tips to save more and waste less, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.