Backyard and Garden Makeovers by Billy Bristol - HTML preview

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A Solution for Unsightly Weeds

In order to transform your backyard into a venue of wonderment one thing is for certain; you will want to keep the weeds out. Since you can’t post a no-trespassing sign for this form of unsightly plant-life a more realistic solution may present in the form of landscape fabric. What exactly is landscape fabric?

It is a material especially used in gardens to keep down excessive weed growth, rather in the same way compost does, only it does not rot down like compost. Landscape fabric is a viable solution in keeping the weeds out as you simply place it around all sorts of preferable plant life such as flowers, shrubbery and shade trees. This may easily spare you the drudgery of digging up the weeds with a trowel. The material is actually used to promote the positive plant growth and discourage or put an end to the weeds.

The way the latter is accomplished is that the material effectively blocks out natural light so that weeds do not have a chance to emerge.  The plants you wish to keep around are not blocked since the same material that blocks sunlight from getting to unsightly weeds allows plenty of air and humidity and other forms of moisture to reach the roots of garden plants. This is based on the theory that the plants where growth is encouraged have already emerged and the weeds attempting to make an eventual appearance above ground are still underneath the soil.

Before buying landscape fabric you will need to consider a few points.  First off, you need to choose a landscape fabric with plenty of durability that holds up well and is well-suited for its intended application. However, fabric that is a great deal more durable is more expensive and there is a reduction in the amount of moisture and air that can reach your plants.

The fabric used needs to be absorbent enough to provide proper moisture and air to flow into the soil. The fabric must be appropriate to its application because if it is not you will have a problem on your hands with the soil becoming infertile or your plants not growing properly. In this regard, the fibers of the fabric should be evenly distributed. Also the areas where there are openings should be small enough that weeds cannot grow through. You can buy landscape fabrics at most garden centers as well as community nurseries.