The best type of landscape fabric depends on your project. Use woven fabric under stone and gravel. Use non-woven fabric in garden beds with plants. Picking the wrong type leads to drainage issues or early breakdown within the first year or two.
I keep both types in my garage and the feel is night and day. Woven fabric feels stiff and crisp, like a tight tarp. You need sharp scissors or a utility knife to cut through it because the strips resist tearing. Non-woven fabric feels softer and thicker, almost like dense felt. It cuts with regular scissors and drapes over bumps in the ground with ease. When I tested water flow, I poured a cup on each type. The woven let it bead up and trickle through the gaps over a few seconds. The non-woven soaked it up and passed it through right away.
The way each type is made explains the difference. Woven fabric has polypropylene strips locked together in a tight grid. This grid gives it high strength under heavy loads. Non-woven fabric uses polyester fibers bonded with heat and pressure into a dense mat. The result is thousands of tiny pores that move water fast. When you compare woven vs non-woven landscape fabric, you're choosing between strength and drainage.
The numbers back this up. Woven fabric is built to last 40 to 50 or more years buried under stone. Non-woven fabric moves water at rates around 100 gallons per minute per square foot. This keeps plant roots from sitting in standing water after heavy rain. Neither type does both jobs well. Your project tells you which one to buy.
Nurseries and contractors pick heavy-duty landscape fabric for jobs that need to last decades. These commercial rolls weigh 4 to 5 ounces per square yard and cost more upfront. But you won't need to swap them out every few years like you would with thin fabric. Home stores carry lighter rolls at 1 to 2 ounces that work for small projects around your yard. In my experience, spending a bit more on the heavier product saves you money and time in the long run. I used a cheap 1-ounce fabric on a side path and had to redo it after just two seasons because it tore under the gravel.
Before you buy, check three details on the label. First, match the fabric type to your job. Woven goes under gravel. Non-woven goes in garden beds. Second, look at the weight in ounces per square yard and lean toward heavier fabric for a longer life. Third, check for a UV rating if any section will sit exposed to sunlight without mulch on top. Getting these three points right keeps you from tearing out the wrong fabric a year from now.
Read the full article: Landscape Fabric: Pros, Cons, and Uses
