In my experience landscape fabric reduced the number of weeds in my back yard and made the ones that showed up much easier to pull up. It's definitely worth it if you have a very weedy area because it'll cover the seeds that are currently there in the soil. The areas I've covered are much easier to manage now, but it's not completely maintenance free.

It's also not permanent. The fabric eventually gets a dirt layer over it under the rocks (or mulch in my case), and you get new seeds blowing in or dropped by birds. For me it was more to manage the current mess of weed seeds, and that's what it did for the most part.

Roots can't "poke" holes in it, but if there's a hole (even a tiny one), they can grow through that, then expand.

I agree with Mary McP. Solarization will benefit your minimal-fuss gardening down the road better than landscape fabric. Fabric allows moisture through one side and growth through the other. No matter what the claims may be. Before fabric, it was heavy black plastic. Water pooled and you couldn't walk on it. The rocks poked holes in it and it rotted under the water/sun exposure, of course, but black plastic under hot sun will kill just about anything trying to grow.

It's actually recommended to use clear plastic for solarization. I forget the physics behind it, it may be in the article I linked. Maybe the UV rays go *through* the clear plastic but not black......well, I better just go check....brb....

That article did not speak directly to why but I found another with more details here:

Soil Solarization - Another View

In a nutshell: In general, transparent or clear plastic is most effective for solarization, as the heating rays from the sun will pass through the sheet and be trapped to heat the soil below. Usually, black plastic is less effective because it absorbs and deflects part of the heat rather than trapping as clear plastic does.

I put down landscaping fabric under a few thousand sqft of gravel and I would do it again in a second if starting over. Every weed is easier to pull out (with the exceptions of those who found a hole in the fabric) and the bermuda grass is subdued a little. But still need chemicals for the bermuda. The only downside is that sometimes you need to rebury the edges of the fabric, and it does cost a little more.

As an environmentalist and conscious person, my one exception is bermuda grass. I'll bring out the chemical warefare to keep it at bay. Everything else gets yanked or cut down or mulched over. Not bermuda.

From a design and permaculture aspect I would encourage you to think about what you could gain from your big front yard that you might be missing. Shade is a big one, if your front door faces west or south then you should really think about the value that shade trees can bring. Fruit? Butterfly garden? Combination additional parking or outdoor living space? I think a strong focal point with soft details could be really nice for your front yard.

I would recommend using fabric because it really stops weeds. Moreover, letting air and water in, it doesn't destroy the soil. The only thing I would recommend you is to use the heavy-duty membrane which is more durable and lets traffic over. When you install it, don't forget that in 5-10 years (depends on the fabric), it's necessary to replace it with a new one because it will look worse with years and much less tough. At Gardening Adviser I reviewed the best materials for this goal, check them out.