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Woven Ground Cover Fabric
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Choosing The Right Ground Cover Fabric For Your Projects
Ground covers are extremely flexible in application and can be used in a wide variety of landscape situations. The popular and common ground covers are used for insect protection, frost prevention, weed control, temperature control, sunlight and moisture controls. Ground covers can also be used for aesthetic appearances, so whatever you need ground covering for, your choices will vary.
Note: the ground covers offered blow are not ideal for all of the applications listed below.
Frost Protection:
If you plan to extend your growing season into the fall months in order to start growth earlier in the spring, your crops must be protected from possible frost.
Frost Blankets:
These blankets are placed directly over plants and shrubs that create a layer for trapping in heat from the ground while keeping frost out. In order to accomplish this, all sides of the frost blanket must be sealed off. See our frost blanket section for a full selection of frost blankets and additional information.
Row Covers:
Row covers increase the temperature of the area underneath it, keeping the plants underneath safe from freezing. Row covers can either be directly placed over crops or placed over hoops, creating a mini hoop housing.
Weed & Insect Protection:
Weeds and insects are one of the biggest plights against crops and plants. It's very important what you do to prevent your plants and crops from coming in contact with either one of these issues. Insects carry diseases that can kill your crops before ever making it to the market. Weeds deprive your plants from much needed nutrients which will prevent them from reaching maturity. There are a number of ground covers that are specifically manufactured for keeping these harmful elements out.
Ground Covers:
These ground covers suppress weed growth while still bringing in water, nutrients and air for the plants. The covers are placed over plants, protecting them through their entire growth, saving on labor and time costs.
Our Standard Ground Cover is made from material rated at 3 oz, per square yard, that is durable and UV resistant. We strongly suggest securing the ground cover with our Fabric Stakes or Fabric Securing Staples.
Weed Control Fabrics:
Like other ground covers, weed control fabrics keep weeds out while giving plants the essentials that are needed for growth. Unlike other ground covers, these fabrics can be used under rock, organic materials and bark to separate materials from the soil and allow for excellent drainage while keeping weeds out.
Fabric Ground Cover:
This cover is perfect for creating a weed barrier, it's excellent for landscaping both long-term or short-term. This materials has also been successfully used under paver stones to prevent weeds.
Ground Cover:
Our Standard Ground Cover can be placed under mulch or other materials, suppressing weed growth while offering a great balance of water, air and nutrient transfers. This material is marked in increments of 12-inches for easy measurement and cutting for an exact fit.
There are so many different ground covers and options to choose from and can become overwhelming. We are available to help you choose the perfect ground cover for your projects, both commercially and residentially.
8 Reasons Why Landscape Fabric Is Better Than Plastic for Weed Control
You are finally ready to plant the garden or flower bed of your dreams. You know exactly what you want to plant and are ready to begin. You then realize you haven’t planned on how to keep the weeds out.
There are generally two options that work in a garden. Plastic sheeting or landscaping fabric. Which one do you use? In some circumstances, it depends, but in general, landscape fabric is the better choice. Both forms are good for preventing weeds from growing in your plot, but there are advantages to fabric lining that plastic does not provide. To help you decide, we have put together the 8 reasons why landscape fabric is better than plastic.
1: Fabric Helps Regulate Soil Temperatures
The plastic lining is more prone to heating soil temperatures. Heat, whether from the atmosphere or ground, can cause damage to plants and cause death.
The only benefit of plastic may be in extremely cold areas where the soil needs to be kept warm from freezing temperatures, however, if there are holes in the plastic and water is trapped below the plastic without a way to evaporate or exit then ice may form under the plastic and potentially harm the surrounding plants.
Landscape fabric is better at helping to regulate Soil Temperatures
2: Nutrients can Pass-Through Landscape Fabric
Different types of fertilizers can be restricted from reaching your plants with plastic. The permeability of landscape fabric allows for fertilizers to gain access to the soil around the plant. With plastic, fertilizers can be stopped by the plastic lining and sit on top of it, never reaching the roots.
Any high-quality landscape fabric will pass water through ground cover types typically let more water through. The water passing through is crucial to the health of plants as they need water and nutrient matter in order fully develop.
3: Landscape Fabric Enables Better Watering
Plastic is a good waterproofing material. This is why it is used in products to keep water out. The downside when it comes to plants is that plastic lining can keep water from reaching all of the root systems of your plants. Some plants have root systems that stretch out from the parent plant. If the plastic is covering these roots, water may never reach them. Fabric landscape material allows water to seep into the dirt and into the entire root system.
Landscape Fabric enables water to pass through to the plants
4: Landscape Fabric Discourages Mold Growth
A second problem with being waterproof is that plastic does not allow for excess moisture in the soil to evaporate. If your root systems stay too wet for too long, they can have mold growth begin to form. With fabric, air circulation allows water to evaporate into the air.
As mentioned, plastics prevent the movement of air and, in the end, can suffocate your plants. By using fabric, the air is able to get into your soil and into the root systems of your plants, helping them thrive.
A great deterrent to pathogen growth. UV light from the sun along with the breathability of fabric can hinder the environment that mold and bacteria really enjoy growing in.
Plastic sheeting, when used as a ground barrier, especially the dark black colored type, does not allow for UV light to reach the soil. When this happens, plant diseases can thrive in the soil and damage your plants. The makeup of the fabric allows for the UV light to reach the soil and help kill cultures that can potentially harm plants.
5: Landscape Fabric is less expensive in the Long Run
Using plastic as a ground cover will typically be less costly upfront, but don’t let that price fool you. Since you will not be able to efficiently water from above with plastic, you will have to invest money in an under the plastic drip or watering system. Having to install irrigation can raise the cost of your project considerably, especially if you end up with dying plants and the costs of having to replace them.
Another benefit of using fabric against plastic is that the fabric will generally last longer. With fabric, you will probably gain two or three seasons with it as you will need to dispose of the plastic about every season. This is because the plastic material becomes brittle and breaks apart easily after a few months in the environment.
6: Fabric Controls Erosion Better
By degrading slowly over time, landscape fabric becomes part of the soil. This slow degradation helps to prevent soil runoff with rain and protect our garden from erosion. By securing the soil below, landscape fabric can resist natural erosion or soil degradation.
Plastic has a slick surface and does not provide really any friction for the soil, so it does not enable the same erosion control ability that would be found in a ground cover fabric. Over time as the plastic breaks down and tears it will look bad and will not help erosion, in fact it may increase erosion as the soil can wash right over the smooth plastic forming a kind of slide. Its not recommended to use this on hills with the expectation of good erosion protection properties.
7: Landscape fabric resists tearing and ripping
Working with plastic landscaping material can be a hassle when it tears or rips. Landscape Fabric is not as susceptible to tearing as plastic and can be patched with much less effort. Once plastic sheeting is torn, it may be necessary to start that section of the project over again as you cannot easily repair rips and tears. These tears in the coverage can let weeds through and make the barrier much less effective in weed prevention.
8: Fabric Simply Looks Better
The ideal landscape fabric is the one you don’t see. I should Ideally be hidden away under mulch so that nobody notices that it’s in use, however, as time passes after the installation erosion or movement of the rock or mulch above can expose the weed barrier and when that happens then it can be ugly if you don’t cover it up.
Let’s face it; you have a garden or flower bed to make to grow plants and to make your property more attractive. Looking at a giant plastic piece is not the most visibly pleasing site when looking at your garden. Sure, you can cover both fabric and plastic with mulch or rock, but plastic has a way of showing itself over time.
The problem is when it rains, the material is pushed to the side, and the plastic is exposed a little more each time. This is the primary issue with using black plastic as a weed barrier in gardens or planting areas. With traditional geotextile landscape fabric allowing the water to drain better, the water goes into the soil and does not wash the rock or the mulch away. Visibility tends to me much less of a problem with landscape fabric.
Old landscape plastic looks bad over time
Conclusion
Keeping your garden weed-free is important to everyone. Several solutions include both plastic and fabric landscaping material. These two appear to be the most popular and some of the cheapest forms of bedding lining to protect your garden. However, the fabric material has many benefits over plastic sheeting. As discussed in the article, the fabric has become a better economic choice over time. It also provides a more environmentally friendly solution while doing a better job of keeping your plants healthy.
Resources:
Impact of Heat in Soil
Choosing Between Fabric and Plastic
Why Plastic Landscape Fabric is Bad for Your Plants
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Ground Cover Fabric
