While it won’t keep you from having to pull weeds by hand, landscape fabric will keep the weeding to a minimum.

We use an inexpensive landscape fabric in all our garden beds to keep the weeds at bay. When we transplant seedlings into the garden, we cut holes in the fabric and nestle the new plants in place.

When we direct sow, like our carrots, lettuce and spinach, we cut strips of the fabric to place along the rows.

We found this product from Dollar General for $5 per roll (3 ft x 45 ft).

Tip: We always buy our landscape fabric in the fall because we often find it up to 75% off.

Landscape fabric only lasts one season, but it does a good job of blocking the weeds, providing shade to roots, and moisture easily goes through the fabric. 

In the fall, we remove it from the beds with a rake and do a little prep for the next gardening season. 

We also put down more fabric for our fall planting of kale, lettuce, sweet peas, cabbage, cauliflower and pak choi.

Landscape fabric: a gardener’s best friend!

“What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have never been discovered.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson, American Essayist, Lecturer, Philosopher & Poet

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