20+ years ago I used the black plastic as a ground cover/weed contol in my garden. It created the worst garden I have ever had for all the reasons mentioned above-crops couldn't get enough water and the earth below became a horrible mess; sour, hard & dead. I do use plastic in the garden but only in the spring on my raised beds to keep the springs rains from saturating the ground. I can begin planting even after many days of heavy rain without damaging the soil. I just pull off the plastic,fold it up and store it for next year. I have plastic that is many, many years old and still in great shape. The clear plastic tears up sooner than the black.(posted 8996 days ago)15+ years ago I used the landscaping fabric. The fine weeds/grass just came up through it and the tough weeds/grass traveled along the ground under the fabric until it reached a planting hole to sprout from. When I pulled out the weeds/grass, it just tore a big hole in the fabric. Yes, I had a thin layer of mulch on top of the fabric. It didn't help at all.
5+ years ago I began using hay mulch. Finally, something that works! You MUST put it down THICK! I lay the whole flakes down side by side without fluffing them up. If a weed sneaks through, down goes another flake right on top of it. I buy second cutting hay from a farmer who takes this cutting before it makes seed heads. Many people have increased weeds after using hay but I haven't had this problem (maybe I should give a special thanks to my hayman). All summer long, all I do is harvet - seldom do I pull a weed.
I do use a soaker hose but I have not tried drip. I lay the hose down under the hay. It stays there all summer without me moving it. I have enough hose to use on all my beds without needing to move it.
Any of the compost/hay/live mulches will be much better for your soil in the long run. They all give life back to the earth. Plastic and landscape fabric give nothing back.