Ditch Landscape Fabric: The Eco-Friendly Way To Keep Grass From Growing In Mulch

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Mulch is a thin layer of organic or inorganic material that you spread over a garden bed to moderate soil temperature, retain moisture, and mitigate water runoff and soil erosion. It provides a protective environment for the plants in your garden, but unfortunately, what's good for them is also good for those you don't want. You can prevent grass from growing in mulch by installing weed-barrier landscape fabric, but it has a number of drawbacks, like blocking water and nutrients and getting in the way when you want to do new planting. A better way to control weeds without this drawback is to spray them with an organic weed killer like ECO Garden Pro, available on Amazon for $28 per gallon (or with an attached sprayer for an extra buck).

Over 4,000 Amazon users give this product an average rating of 4.1 out of 5 stars, with many praising its eco-friendliness and practicality. The two primary ingredients of the ECO Garden Pro are white vinegar and rock salt, and it works on contact to kill surface grass within 24 hours by drying it out. "I used Eco Garden Pro to kill crabgrass and other weeds in my mulch beds and it worked quickly and wonderfully," one reviewer reported. Do note that you'll still need to pull or dig the grasses out once they die to prevent regrowth, but it'll be a lot easier and can "reduce the time necessary to remove the weeds by about 50%," according to another reviewer.

You can control grass with any number of weed-killing sprays, but not all of them are safe for your garden or the environment in general. Unlike sprays that contain phosphates, glyphosate, or dicamba, ECO Garden Pro won't contribute to contamination of soil or waterways, and it isn't hazardous to kids or pets. This makes it a natural fit for the growing trend toward eco-friendly gardening, as more and more gardeners are looking for ways to maintain their gardens without harsh chemicals. It'll even leave a mildly pleasant aroma on your mulch for anyone who likes the smell of vinegar. 

ECO Garden Pro is a non-selective herbicide, which means it will kill anything it comes in contact with, including healthy flowers and plants. For this reason, it's important to choose a calm, dry day to apply it to avoid having the spray carried by the wind or washed away by rain. It's also best to apply it in the early afternoon on a sunny day because the sun helps accelerate the desiccating effect of vinegar and salt, which is what kills the plant. 

The spray will kill grass in any stage of growth. However, it works faster when it's young. If you spray early in the growing season, you can get a handle on annual grasses like crabgrass as they emerge, but you may have to do a repeat treatment later in the season to get rid of latecomers. Perennial grasses can emerge at any time, so they call for continued vigilance throughout the growing season. Also expect to reapply the product a few times to control some of the hardier types of grasses, like switchgrass.