No matter what landscape fabric you use, you will hate it in 3 years...guaranteed. The soil beneath it becomes hard-packed and lifeless as the pores clog preventing the needed air exchange in the soil, weeds will grow through it becoming harder to remove and enough debris will settle on top to allow weeds to grow there as well. It is a short term (2 years) solution with long term pain at the 3 year mark.

tj

I've not had had a positive experience with landscape fabric. It may work for a few seasons , perhaps you will have better luck.

Concerning pea gravel, I've noticed neighbors who used it for the same reason you are, and have had problems with it getting displaced by heave rain etc.

I have another neighbor who has a very steep hill they had professionally landscaped. The process involved putting down large stones, then smaller stones on top of that to prevent displacement.

This wax done last year and so far it has been successful and looks beautiful with appropriate landscaping.

Best,

Mike

As TsugaJunkie said, this landscape fabric/pea gravel is a recipe for unhappiness since water movement and weeds will be come an issue. It may work in areas that have really low rainfall, but in areas with more average rainfall it is a recipe for disaster, and when it goes bad, you then have to remove all the gravel and landscape fabric.

What is your goal in doing this? How large is your area? Any chance of a photo?

I've actually changed my mind about the pea gravel. Now I'm doing pallet mulch. My goal is just to eliminate the lawn idea. My grass never did well. So is mulch a better choice? Should I use lawn fabric? The black part you see is the fabric.

I would rip it out NOW..

And just do mulch?

Just mulch is better than mulch over landscape fabric in my opinion..what about groundcover, shrubs, perennials?..it looks beautiful, is environmentally friendly, attracts pollinators and wildlife..create your own park..my yard has very little lawn..our grass does poorly too

I would get rid of all the fabric and just use the mulch. Like everyone else is saying, within three years you will be cursing yourself for using the fabric. That stuff is a pain.

If you want to use something as an underlayment for the mulch instead of landscape fabric (don't do it right around the tree) use corrugated cardboard or a few layers of newspaper or brown paper. It will discourage most weeds and grass from resprouting while the mulch settles in, but it will rot quickly enough so that it won't interfere over time with water and nutrient movement.

Great suggestion from NHBabs..I've never done it but I've read lots of comments on GW about how well this works..

Thanks everyone for your advise. I will remove the fabric.