The Versatile Fabric To Avoid Big Messes In Your Garden

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When you're doing work in your yard or garden, the occasional mess is inevitable. Pruning can send twigs flying, potting plants in containers can cause you to spill soil on your patio, and transplanting can produce a mound of nursery pots and plant tags. Sure, you can go back after you've completed your gardening project and tidy things up, but for some tasks it's helpful to plan ahead. Spreading out a versatile fabric drop cloth on the ground first, for instance, can be a simple, handy way to keep your mess (like plant trimmings) contained while working outside.

If you take a trip to your local hardware or home improvement store, you'll find fabric drop cloths, not in the gardening section, but aisles away, over in the paint department. These floor protectors can be made out of canvas or plastic, but we'd like to zoom in on the canvas options. Made from cotton, these drop cloths are reusable and biodegradable. (On that note, a drop cloth is also the versatile, eco-friendly alternative to landscape fabric.)

Likely you've seen this idea — i.e., spreading out some cover on the ground to collect yard waste as you work, to prevent the mess from going everywhere — in other forms. For example, some gardeners use tarps. However, the advantage of using a fabric drop cloth instead of a common plastic tarp, is that cotton won't leave microplastics in your garden. Of course, there are heavy-duty tarps made of canvas as well (see above right), but these tarps can cost significantly more than drop cloths.

Yet another item you could use as a yard waste collector is a towel; using towels can make garden cleanup 10 times easier, it's true. But while towels make for a quick and convenient hack, drop cloths also have an advantage over this method — specifically, in the size department. The largest towel is a large bath sheet, which measures 40 inches by 72 inches, or 3 ⅓ feet by 6 feet. Meanwhile, drop cloths are available in sizes as large as 9 feet by 12 feet, and even 10 feet by 20 feet.

As for cost, average reusable drop cloth prices range between $10 and $25, like the 6-by-9-Foot Hyper Tough Canvas Drop Cloth, available at Walmart for $14.28. It's always good to comparison shop, though, as prices may vary by retailer. However, all in all, fabric drop cloths present a versatile and affordable cleanup method for yard or garden work. Given that these items are just natural cotton fabric with seamed edges, there really isn't too much to charge for, which works out fine for the budget-conscious gardener, too. (Discover more easy green methods to getting rid of landscaping waste.)