The Best Weed Barrier In 2021 – Reviews & Buying Guide

The best weed barrier prevents many kinds of weeds from growing and affecting the growth of other plants in your garden. In detail, this product can block the sunlight out of the weeds to slow down their growing process while keeping the soil of your plants moist.

We have tested plenty of products and picked out the Dewitt P3 as the best weed mat in 2021. 

This weed cloth is durable due to the polypropylene material and highly breathable, thanks to its puncture holes. It also features a large amount of coverage to protect your garden from weeds, which is about 3 feet wide by 250 feet.

With a combination of durability, breathability, and efficiency, the Dewitt P3 deserves to take the lead among hundred of weed mats in 2021.

7 Best Weed Barrier Reviews

Dewitt P3 – Best Overall

The Dewitt P3  appears with a width of 3 feet and a length of 250 feet. It will provide a large amount of coverage to support any large-scale landscape.

The high-density polypropylene durable material makes this barrier quite firm to resist the impact of weather factors while keeping it light not to crush the plants. Many puncture pre-cut holes on this mat allow water and oxygen to get through it.

Although the price of this P3 model is a little bit high, the durability, breathability, and efficiency of it definitely will please you at best!

What We Like

• The polypropylene fabric makes the barrier durable and light.
• The weed mat supports ease of installation.
• Puncture holes increase the breathability of the barrier.
• This heavy-duty weed block gardening mat resists UV rays.

What Can Be Improved? 

• The price is high.

Easy Gardener 3103 – Best For Bad Weather Impact Prevention

The Easy Gardener 3103 roll of fabric for weed prevention is 3 feet wide and 150 feet long. The coverage it provides is not as large as the Dewitt P3 does but still sufficient to support a heavy-duty weed garden well.

This weed control product has impressed us a lot due to its soft burlap fabric. The mesh creates an ideal condition for the plants to absorb water and sunlight.

We admit that this weed control fabric is slightly thin, but you don’t have to worry about its efficiency. This burlap fabric can work its best to keep the soil healthy from windburn, freezing rain, snow, sun rays, and ice.

What We like

• The barrier gives superior weed control.
• Burlap fabric is soft and breathable.
• Quality fabric protects plants from many weather factors.

What Can Be Improved? 

• The barrier is too thin.

AK TRADING CO. AKBARRIER-3FTX300FT – Best For Durability

This AKBARRIER-3FTX300FT can also please you well with its comprehensive coverage. It comes up in a 3×300 (feet) landscaping fabric roll.

Like the Dewitt P3, this item has a construction of polypropylene to be durable and light. It also allows a high amount of airflow and water to get through and reach your plants.

Compared to the P3, this model seems to be relatively thin. It will not block out as much light as its rival does, but still enough to prevent the growth of stubborn weeds.

What We like

• This barrier gives a wide coverage.
• The layer of polypropylene fabric makes the barrier durable and light.
• This mat allows nutrients to reach the plants.

What Can Be Improved? 

• The barrier is expensive.
• The fabric is not thick enough.

Master Gardner All-Purpose – Best For Mesh Holes

This Master Gardner All-Purpose is our recommendation for small gardens. It can provide a coverage of 3 feet in width and 4 feet in length.

The synthetic fabric with many mesh holes allows the water and air to enter soil nutrients to the plants. As this black material contains no chemicals, you don’t have to worry about the item killing your plants.

You can rest assured that no sunlight, even Ultraviolet rays, can reach the covered garden space. The black color will build a solid block to keep your plant roots safe.

What turns this product down is its thinness. On hot days when sunlight is strong, you may have to apply multiple layers of this thin barrier to form strong protection for the plants.

What We like

• This durable product has a reasonable price tag.
• No chemical is contained in this effective product.
• The breathability is high.
• The black color of the barrier gives UV protection.

What Can Be Improved? 

• This product has a thin fabric.

Master Gardner Weedender – Best For CO2 Escaping

This Master Gardner Weedender will be the best choice for gardeners who require wide coverage. This product can cover up to 3 x 100 feet of weed germination areas.

With geotextile fabric, this item does not prevent airflow or water but only lights from the sun. The small mesh of fabric also makes the CO2 escape outside easier to promote a deep root system.

Do not expect this Weedender model to protect your soils under heavy Ultraviolet lights. Its grey color is quite bright and can not block the rays as efficiently as intoblack does.

What We like

• Geotextile fabric prevents sunlight but not airflow or water.
• Mesh of fabric enables CO2 to escape.
• This barrier forms a wide coverage.

What Can Be Improved? 

• Grey color blocks less sunlight than black does.

Liadance Weed Block Mulch Tree Mat – Best For Flower Pot

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into black Liadance Weed Block Mulch Tree Mat package contains 10 pieces of fabric weed barriers (each is 20.4 x 2.36 inches large). You can use each piece to cover the upper part of a flower pot.

We give a big compliment to the durability and breathability of the non-woven fabric. It will never tear under weather impacts, making sure for the healthy growth of your flower beds for long durations.

The special thing is, this mat is environmentally friendly. You don’t need to worry about it damaging your plants or other natural species nearby it.

Even though there are 10 Liadance mats, they are not enough to cover a large garden.

What We like

• Non-woven fabric has high durability and breathability.
• There is no harm to the environment.
• Black color prevents sunlight.
• The product is affordable.

What Can Be Improved? 

• This barrier can not cover a garden.

ZXWCYJ Premium Weed Barriers – Best For Large Coverage

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If you have a big garden to cover, the ZXWCYJ Premium will serve you at best. Believe it or not, this item can provide broad coverage of up to 13.1 x 328 feet.

The unique landscape fabric of this item has high elasticity and durability. With a woven texture, this fabric will give the ground surrounding your plants a large amount of airflow and water flow, but not sunlight.

Another great thing is, this fabric is eco-friendly and chemical-free. It will not leak harmful substances that kill your plants, even when downgrading.

What We like

• Woven landscape fabric is highly elastic and durable.
• This product prevents the weeds from growing without chemicals.
• The barrier blocks sunlight while allowing airflow and water.

What Can Be Improved? 

• This barrier can not cover a garden that has larger plants.

Buying Guide for Best Weed Barrier

Type Of Weed Barrier

Natural Barriers

As the name describes, natural barriers contain multiple layers of organic materials. Gardeners can use a layer of mulch, peat moss, leaves, straw, or many other natural materials to cover the outdoor space for weeds prevention.

The type of grass barrier doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. In addition, it will not kill the plants, as its friendly materials are biodegradable.

Unfortunately, many natural landscape fabric weed barriers, such as organic mulch and straw, may include some airborne weed seeds. If these seeds grow, the weed problems will get worse.

On the other hand, if you put too many thick layers of leaves, they will take away a large amount of water and oxygen that your plant soils should have. As a consequence, your plants will not have a favorable condition to grow well.

Homemade Barriers

Like the natural type, homemade barriers can also help you save costs, making different recycled materials. You can use old newspapers, black plastic bags, cardboard sheets, and many other household items to block the sunlight out of the weeds.

These physical barriers are cheap, nearly costless, to get. They don’t contain any seeds so that no more weed will grow surrounding your plants.

However, these items are not biodegradable. If you use them over a long period, especially on hot days, they are likely to melt and create harmful substances that potentially kill your plants.

The homemade barriers are also less durable than other types of garden weed barriers. Therefore, it’s better only to consider using these weed mats as temporal solutions.

Fabrics

Fabric layers are made of synthetic geotextile materials. The manufacturers usually laminate them with some thin layers of black polyethylene.

The black color of fabrics helps prevent a high amount of sunlight. Besides, because the weed fabric barriers contain meshes, water and oxygen can still go through them to reach the soil with ease.

Some gardeners highly favor synthetic fabrics as they don’t include seeds and take a long period to downgrade.

But on the downside, these materials are less durable and have a high price tag.

Plastic Barriers

Plastic flat barriers last long and create excellent effects on the landscape.

Most plastic weed mats have a black color to block sunlight. Also, this weed barrier material can decrease a high amount of moisture evaporation in the soils.

Due to the strong bond of the components, the plastic weed barrier has high durability that can resist tearing from weather factors. Some items made of plastic even can keep the plants healthy under the impact of Ultraviolet rays.

Unfortunately, plastics are expensive materials and non-biodegradable. If they downgrade, the chemical components will leak the toxin to the ground surrounding your plants.

Feature To Look For?

After choosing your favorite type, you want to check the following factors:

Is The Weed Barrier Landscape Fabric Breathable?

The weed barrier fabric should only block sunlight instead of air. If there is not enough oxygen on the soil surface, the plants will not grow.

There should be holes on the barrier, which you use to cover your garden.

The fabric barrier type already contains many pre-cut planting holes that allow air to come through it. If you use other types of weed mats, you want to use a small stick to create many tiny holes on them.

Remember that the holes should not be too large. Otherwise, the sunlight may still get through and allow the weeds to grow.

Can Water Get Through The Barrier?

Besides oxygen, the plants also require water to grow well.

One more time, the fabric barrier takes the lead due to the mesh design. Water can soak throughout these meshes to reach the plants.

If you use other barrier types, you have to punch holes in them. You can also add water to the plants before covering them with the barrier.

You Want To Get A Durable Fabric!

A good weed barrier should have an impressive lifespan. It must withstand the impact of natural factors such as rains, UV rays, winds, etc., and insects or animals, such as bugs, rats, cats, etc.

The plastic barriers will stand in the top position due to their high durability. They have a strong bond of components that resist wear and tear in the storm or when an animal crosses by.

How Large Is The Size?

The weed barrier appears in different sizes. You want to determine your purposes before making the buying decision.

You do not need to buy a significant barrier if your garden is small. The large barrier will make your small garden look messy.

On the other hand, a tiny barrier will not provide enough coverage for a wide garden. You may have to spend a lot of money buying many layers of barriers to cover the entire landscape.

Which Color Does The Barrier Have?

The color tells the ability of the mat to prevent sunlight. Dark colors, such as dark blue, dark violet, black, can resist the sunlight and harmful Ultraviolet rays from the sun to protect your plants from weed suppression.

Never buy a barrier that has bright colors. Although colorful items look attractive, the brightness of color can absorb a lot of harmful UV rays.

Weed Barrier: How to Choose the Best One?

Conclusion

The Dewitt P3 undoubtedly deserves the title of the best weed barrier in 2021. Under the strong and wide coverage of this landscaping weed killer, your plants can still receive enough nutrients, water, and oxygen to grow well.

Of course, there are still many good products you can find on the market. Just make sure that you check the following factors carefully when buying:

• Style of weed barrier
• Breathability
• Rate of water permeability
• Durability
• Size
• Color

If the product you choose has fulfilled all these features, it definitely will help you keep a weed-free garden!

And now, our article will come to an end. Many thanks for reading!

Last update on 2024-06-07 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API