A landscaper recently took to Instagram to issue a dire warning to anyone with a lawn. RVG Landscape & Contracting NC (@rvg_landscape_nc) made a post about the wasted expense, ineffectiveness, and damage of a common product homeowners use to prevent weeds.
"Stop using landscape fabric," the original poster wrote. "Especially if you have Bermuda or zoysia grass. It doesn't work and is simply a waste of money- especially when it needs to be removed. It has negative effects on the environment, soil health & water infiltration. Which in return negatively affects your plantings."
The waste of money is evident from the fact that the fabric in the video failed to do the job the homeowner paid for it to do — there is still grass growing through holes in the fabric that the Instagrammer's hands have to pluck out. And, as the OP noted, there is a cost to having someone remove this ineffective barrier.
The negative effects on the environment that they're referring to concern the material used to make this product — plastic. Because of this, the fabric does not fully degrade. Instead, it slowly breaks off tiny plastic fragments known as microplastics.
These microplastics is a huge environmental contaminant that pollutes our soil and water. Just as alarming, microplastics pose a threat to our air quality as well. Those tiny particles are being inhaled and could possibly be the culprit behind respiratory and other major health issues, according to University of California, San Francisco, researchers, among others.
Studies have indicated that we still don't understand the full scope of how microplastics damage our health, as detailed in a recent article from Stanford Medicine. However, researchers have discovered disturbing links between microplastics and damage that goes as deep as our DNA.
Nature may have some solutions to help counteract the harmful impact microplastics have on our health. According to a study published in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis (and shared by the National Library of Medicine), anthocyanins, an antioxidant commonly found in flowers, nuts, fruits, and vegetables, may help combat some of the adverse health effects microplastics have on our reproductive system.
Meanwhile, you can protect your yard by using environmentally friendly alternatives to lawn fabric, such as leaves, shredded bark, pine needles, grass clippings, and wood chips for mulch. You can also use biodegradable materials like cardboard, burlap, and certain "ground cover" plants like Japanese forest grass and heuchera that might outcompete weeds.
It's a good idea to check which plants are native to your area and best suited locally. The practice of "rewilding" yards is a growing trend that helps protect our environment while making yards look more beautiful than ever.
Thankfully, the warning to people about the waste and dangers of landscaping fabric is being spread within the landscaping business community.
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Mowing the lawn 🏡 One company shared a separate amusing Instagram post featuring a picture of actor Ryan Gosling, which said: "Hey girl. Let's hate landscaping fabric together."
That post drew lots of support in the comments. Another landscaping company replied: "Always fighting the landscape fabric battle!"
Another added: "Truth! Landscape fabric is evil."
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