Homeowner baffled after landscaping project has unexpected result: 'I had the same experience'

Weeds are an unfortunate part of gardening, but there are good and bad ways to deal with them.

One mother found out the hard way how true this is. In a post on r/landscaping, she explained her lawn predicament.

After a friend's husband replaced the mulch over the landscaping fabric and pulled out the weeds, even more weeds began popping up in the garden beds. 

Photos show the weeds sprouting up through the mulch.

While the friend offered to come back once a week to pull the weeds, the OP wrote, "I can't afford to have him come back weekly." 

Confused that the mulch wasn't effectively thwarting the weeds, the OP went to Reddit for help on how to prevent and slow their growth.

The weed dilemma was met with opinions and tips on which methods are best.

"​I had the same experience. All new mulch beds and within a week I had vegetation growing. Nature will find a way!" one comment empathized.

"So the thing with weeds is you can't 100% prevent them, you can only control and manage them," wrote one Redditor.

"Landscape fabric is terrible. It sucks. Cardboard is a much better choice," another advised.

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.

Gardening does require maintenance, such as weeding, but there are ways to minimize the workload. 

Landscape fabrics, marketed as weed blockers, create a much bigger headache in the long run as they can make pulling weeds more difficult and are predominantly made of plastic that breaks down into the soil. 

Microplastics are now being found in our waterways and food supply, plaguing the earth. Other methods, like sheet mulching, are natural, cheaper, more effective, and environmentally friendly.

Another way to minimize sweat in the yard is planting natives. Natural lawns require far less water, fertilizer, pesticides, and herbicides than traditional alternatives, which keeps more money in your bank account. Native lawns are sanctuaries for pollinators who we need to survive, as they are the protectors of our food supply.

You can start exploring the benefits of rewilding by starting with a small patch of your lawn using clover, wildflowers, or buffalo grass. See for yourself why going natural is trending and grow from there.

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