My experience with weed fabric is that it begins to support grass growth on top over time just from the mulch and debris that gets thrown/blown on top. I have also had problems with keeping it down on the ground, tried landscape pins (a big problem) which ended up a mower nightmare. Looking forward to hearing what others recommend on this one.
Yeah I am concerned about decomposing grass clippings creating a bed for weeds in the future. I am hoping to buy a bag for the mower this year to eliminate that problem.
8 inch sod staples work, with the soil here at least, so well that to pull them up after a few months you will need to bang on them with a hammer to loosen.
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For me it depends on the type of fabric. I find that the stuff that has a fuzzy back is notorious for letting grass and weeds get their roots in the fabric and, as time passes, it makes it tough to weed. I used to be a peony root grower and used the fabric between the rows. First year I loved it, second year not so bad, third year the quack grass invaded, fourth year it was an exhausting pull trying to remove it once the grass had grabbed hold. So keep on top of any weed that starts, even at the edges. The ones on the edges send their roots up under and into the fabric and you cannot remove them easily.
I think it would depend upon how many weeds you start with. In a previously grassy and weedy area it is problematic, in a virtually weed free environment it could be good for a while. I now only use it if I can pull it up in the fall.
I had the fuzzy back stuff and had similar results… OK for 2-3 years but not after that. It worked better than the first time I tried the fabric though, I put wood chips on the top and in a year they had turned to dirt and I had a whole bunch of weeds growing on top of the fabric.
I was using it for blackberries, for fruit trees it might be good enough. You just want to keep the weeds from going too crazy, a few weeds is OK with fruit trees. Also when the weeds do come a stirrup hoe cleans then out really fast, just slide over the fabric.
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The fuzzy stuff is most likely non woven spun and the plastic is woven polypropelene. I put down the woven stuff which is 8oz geotext fabric. Weeds did come thru however in areas I placed 4" thick crush rock - the weeds seem not to come thru. I have resulted to limited glyphosate use in pathways where the weeds come up.
I’ve been looking into research on the use of using “plastic mulch,” specifically woven polypropylene fabric:
To summarize, it works great in orchards. Pros: enhanced growth and crop, low maintenance. Cons: cost, vole damage, questions on longevity.
Looking back at the anecdotes, I think people associate plastic mulch with soil hardening because it’s often used for walkways and paths. I also think there’s a lot of confusion regarding the different types of landscape fabric, only UV-resistant woven polypropylene seems appropriate for orchards.
Based on this positive research I decided to give it a try. Yesterday, I laid out one 200ft test row with DeWitt Sunbelt fabric - 3’ fabric on each side of the trees, with 1’ overlap in the center, held down with about 150 8" landscape staples. It went pretty well and seems promising, so in the next few weeks I’m going to cover 10 of my 20 rows of apple trees. In a year, if i like the results, I’ll cover the rest of hte rows and any more that I may plant. Here’s a picture of my one test row:
For the past 2 years, I mowed (zero-turn) and string-trimmed manually, which took a lot of time and lead to the accidental death of several trees.
@jxz7245, thanks for the update and inspiration.
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Water can only get through one layer I was told, so be careful with the 1’ overlap if you have drip hose . I only overlap 2-3” and no problems with weeds
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Good to know. I began overlapping because it seems to wrap the trunk nicely, but I can probably still hug the trunk with less overlap.
It began raining yesterday and the fabric certainly didn’t seem to allow water through, but maybe it happens slowly, or the fabric needs to be exposed to the elements for a little bit.
I cut holes for my trunks and melt the frayed edges with a pencil flame torch, which is easy with just a few inches overlap. But a weed or two does come up through the hole but may eventually stop with a few passes 
I don’t regret the fabric at all it’s excellent and my trees are growing amazing since I no longer have the weed competition
The people who lived at my house before me used black plastic mulch. There was nothing growing there. The soil was compacted hard clay. I knew it would be really difficult and time consuming to improve the soil, so I planted thornless blackberries in it. It’s working. There is life back in the soil, and I get blackberries to eat with no pain. Now I’m getting ready to plant more trees in it. PLus there is so much data coming out about plastic flowing in the bloodstreams of every person checked and plastic messing up our livers and kidneys. One third of Americans have fatty liver disease, partially due to that, and those aren’t even the alcoholics.
John S
PDX OR