Rock as ground cover

[DoubleA]

My wife want's to use rocks instead of mulch around our detached garage, and around our house. We still want to have plants/flowers along the garage and in front of your house.

Is this a good idea? What's the con's and pro's on doing this?

Is there any kinds of plants we should stay away from?

If you have any pictures of this please post them.


We live in Tacoma WA

Thanks
Aaron

[bullthistle]

Rock mulch is not a problem if you put down weed barrier first and when you want to plant you will have to cut a hole in the barrier. When you put the rock down just don't dump it because it could tear the barrier and weeds will sprout.

[rainbowgardener]

I think the con is just that the rock doesn't add much to your soil. I use shredded bark or fall leaves. They break down and become organic matter feeding the soil. The pro is that it doesn't add much to your soil ( ), ie it doesn't break down, so it doesn't have to be renewed as often. Unless you have a free source of your gravel, it will be more expensive to start with, but last way longer.

Off hand the only thing I can think to watch out for is ground covery things. You don't want creeping plants mixed in with your rocks, gets messy.

The rocks and plants is usually a more formal look with pretty much space between the plants. If you like the riotous cottage garden mixed flower bed effect, you wouldn't want rock mulch.

[Pineville]

I don't think there are many good reasons for using stone mulch, other than if you have an area where water would wash out organic mulch. Stone mulch will trap organic debris, and in a few years you will have a mix of stone and compost.

I know plenty of gardeners use stone for mulch- yet it does nothing to enrich the soil, it gets hot and it gets contaminated with dirt and debris. Still, if you like the look, go for it, and be prepared for taking it up every couple years to clean out the debris.

I guess you could say I don't care for stone mulch.

[Ozark Lady]

My question is this:
Are you having too many stones and looking for a creative way to use them? Or is it truly that you like the looks of the stone as mulch?

I have seen some stone mulched paths and walkways, with flower borders that were breathtakingly beautiful. And I have seen some, that needed to be... weeded, dirt removed/ and or rocks removed... a mess.

I hate to mow a yard. I always tell my husband, the first time I have to mow, I will get a truck load of sand, and cover the whole yard, and plant cactus, and drift wood decorations... a desert theme!

I get alot of stones when I build a bed, and I try to find some way to make use of them. If I used them to be sides of my beds, they would be slow to warm, and yet get really hot in summer. They would harbor snakes, lizards, scorpions etc... okay, so do my timbers, but they seem to me that they would be more accommodating to the annoying guys in the garden.

We piled them up, and made a rock garden, with rock type plants growing out of them, all under the blackwalnut tree. We thought the roots couldn't be toxic to plants that had a rock barrier between them and the roots of that walnut tree. That was not overly successful. So, we tried a strawberry tier. Not the greatest in design, and not great at holding water, but the strawberries have lived and flourished in it for 3 years so far.

[DoubleA]

I like the look of it, but don't want to deal with having to clean it out every year & brake my back putting it in. We are going to use reg mulch.

Thanks for your input.

Aaron

[Ksk]

Stone mulch has the benefit of helping some erosion problems depending on the grade of your area. A downside is that in the hottest days it can hold a lot of heat and reflect excessive heat onto sensitive plants. It can really "cook" the plants in particular if near a wall that is also in full sun. Choose plants carefully! In Washington this is less a problem but the sunny days you have might push delicate foliage to an extreme.

[imafan26]

Stone mulch is a water efficient alternative, but don't fool yourself into thinking it is really no maintenance. The weed barrier will help keep weeds from coming up from below, but dirt will accumulate between the rocks so it is still possible for weeds to take root so you either have to stir the rocks once in a while or use an herbicide. If the rocks are placed near a driveway or on a slope, they can be washed or kicked onto the driveway.

Putting a stone mulch two feet around the foundation of the house is not a bad idea. It gives you a little room to do maintenance chores around the house like painting and window washing without having to step into plants. Most plants should not be planted that close to the house anyway since it blocks air circulation and plants need room to spread out. Keeping plants away also keeps water away which is important for people who live in warm climates where termites and ants are a problem. We do have to put a barrier around the foundation or they move into the house.

Stones also can help with surface drainage. If you live where it rains a lot you can use the "dry river bed" stone mulch as a way to direct water out of the yard that looks more natural than a ditch.

The other con is that stones are heavy and it will be a bear to get in. If you use stone, try for the red or the darker stones. If you use white stones, it shows the accumulated dirt faster.

[SQWIB]

Stone mulch is a water efficient alternative, but don't fool yourself into thinking it is really no maintenance. The weed barrier will help keep weeds from coming up from below, but dirt will accumulate between the rocks so it is still possible for weeds to take root so you either have to stir the rocks once in a while or use an herbicide.

Yep, been there done that, the first few years it's nice... that is if you used a weed barrier, after a few years soil will form on top of the weed block.

[tomf]

As you can see stone mulch is a lot of work, and many people use Roundup to keep the weeds down so it can also be a chemical intense area.

[ID jit]

Stone mulch: short burst of effort every couple of years.

Cool thing with it is you can sink open bottom or drilled bottom containers in the ground prior to putting down the barrier and stone. Set the containers just short of the expected level of the 3/4" stone mulch and ring the top with larger stones. Fill these with soil and have evenly spaced little "raised beds" for plants. If you sink then 2' - 3' they are well insulated from any light topical herbicide treatment if you are careful around the plants.

Anything from 8" - 16" sono tubes for concrete to 5 gallon buckets to the top section of plastic trash cans work. If you are going with 5 gallon buckets with holes drilled in the bottom, add a few good sized clean and well rinsed sponges to the bottom. They will retain water which will evaporate up through the soil in the container.

Shop vac-ing the debris off the stones regularly helps a lot with preventing compost from forming in the stones.