# Rocks instead mulch in the flower bed



## mstrlucky74 (Jun 4, 2020)

Anyone use rocks in lieu of mulch in the flowerbeds. Is it superior to Mulch in any ways? I have both flowers and small shrubs in the flowerbeds.

Do you have to lay down a weed area first? Thank you


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## dicko1 (Oct 25, 2019)

I have a rule at my house. No rocks in the flower beds!

Rocks do not remain in the flower beds. Rocks will migrate out of the beds and into your lawn. Mower blades will find those rocks. Mower blades will hit those rocks. It costs money to replace mower blades. After years of raking up rocks, I'm finally at a point where I can mow without hearing a twang as a rock goes flying off the blade.

Also, another rule: No weed barriers allowed. The guy who previously lived in my house put weed barrier down everywhere. I cant plant anything without hitting weed barrier. Weed barriers dont work. After a few years weeds start growing on top of the barriers. So you end up with a whole ton of weeds but no plants because its next to impossible to penetrate the weed barrier to plant things.

OK, I'm done with the rant but I really do hate rocks and weed barriers.


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## mstrlucky74 (Jun 4, 2020)

****o1 said:


> I have a rule at my house. No rocks in the flower beds!
> 
> Rocks do not remain in the flower beds. Rocks will migrate out of the beds and into your lawn. Mower blades will find those rocks. Mower blades will hit those rocks. It costs money to replace mower blades. After years of raking up rocks, I'm finally at a point where I can mow without hearing a twang as a rock goes flying off the blade.
> 
> ...


Thank you


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## Lawn Noob (Jul 26, 2020)

Pea gravel can look good if you are a "plant once and forget adding new plants" guy. You will still be weeding though. Enough organic matter builds up in the rocks that you will have to weed just about as often as you do with mulch.

I believe you do need fabric under rocks if you plan to go that route. That keeps the gravel from sinking into the ground.

I'm gradually replacing my pea gravel beds with pine straw. I'm removing weed barrier fabric as I go.


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## mstrlucky74 (Jun 4, 2020)

Lawn Noob said:


> Pea gravel can look good if you are a "plant once and forget adding new plants" guy. You will still be weeding though. Enough organic matter builds up in the rocks that you will have to weed just about as often as you do with mulch.
> 
> I believe you do need fabric under rocks if you plan to go that route. That keeps the gravel from sinking into the ground.
> 
> I'm gradually replacing my pea gravel beds with pine straw. I'm removing weed barrier fabric as I go.


thanks


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

@ReelWILawn I believe, has rocks of some kind in his flowerbeds.

I have marble chips with beach pebbles in the trench, in a small area on the side of my house.


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## ReelWILawn (Aug 29, 2021)

Jeff_MI84 said:


> @ReelWILawn I believe, has rocks of some kind in his flowerbeds.


Yes, I have landscape rock garden beds all around my house. I much prefer this setup to mulch. I used to have mulch, but it's an every year maintenance thing. I also live in what tends to be a windy area and it seems like everyone's mulch is gone before the end of summer. My neighbor has a bed for their arborvitaes right on our shared property line and I am constatnly picking up their mulch.  I would stay away from small sized / pea gravel rock as that will migrate everywhere. But constantly chopping up mulch with your mower blades isn't good either. My rock is called 'pond pebbles' and are probably an inch or so in diameter. I also have curbing that helps keeps the rock in and they are large enough to see and pick up when they do go into the yard. We also have two Great Danes, so with them just walking and running around we needed something a little bigger to stay put.

As for plants, trees, shrubs I think rock is a good alternative if you are a plant it and forget it person. We also have weed barrier all around the house and the back property and we have very little to no weeds popping through. We did lose a number of boxwoods and few arborviates in our backlot due to an unrelated issue and it was not that bad to dig them up through the barrier. Now, if I were planting annuals each year all around the house I would probably stick with mulch.


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## NJlawnguy (8 mo ago)

One downside is that you'll lose the moisture obtaining benefit of wood mulch.


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## 440mag (Jan 29, 2018)

I've always put multiple thicknesses of landscaping fabric down before I drop my river stone and if anything, the underneath that fabric STAYS wet!

I should add I first blanket drench the area to be covered with termiticide (I.e. *Fipronil* aka "_Termidor," "Taurus SC," "Navigator,_" etc.) … otherwise; the area under landscape fabric with stones atop is a made-to-order "heaven haven" for termites! :shock:

@ReelWILawn Your yarden is gorgeous!

Q - is that new construction or a reno in progress across the street in first or second picture?


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## ReelWILawn (Aug 29, 2021)

@440mag thank you very much. Everything is still a work in progress as I did a complete renovation last fall. I live in a new developing neighborhood / community and the house across the street and next door are new build construction. Both finished early winter and they are in the process of getting a standard contractor grade lawn. We were one of the first houses on this street and part of the neighborhood- good for some things, bad for others but these are the two remaining properties by us that are almost finished


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## GAbermuda (9 mo ago)

ReelWILawn said:


> Jeff_MI84 said:
> 
> 
> > @ReelWILawn I believe, has rocks of some kind in his flowerbeds.
> ...


That looks nice. Is that concrete curbing around the bed? If so did you DIY that or have someone do it. Curious of the cost of that. Thx


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## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

GAbermuda said:


> That looks nice. Is that concrete curbing around the bed? If so did you DIY that or have someone do it. Curious of the cost of that. Thx


I know around here it's somewhere between $5-$10 a linear foot depending on how fancy you want to get with it. Some places have a minimum of $500 for a job. I have had mine for over 10 years and it's held up quite well. If you put it around trees or bushes with an extensive root system it can push the curbing up and crack it. But beyond that it has held up just fine.


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## Goodseed (6 mo ago)

I'm with ****o1 on the rocks. I moved into a house that was heavily landscaped and river rock was used liberally. It ended up everywhere. This was primarily because of my young kids. The rocks ended up in the yard, scattered around the landscaping, in the garden, in the driveway, stuffed in the downspouts by the kids, in the house as collector's items(also by the kids), in the street, in the flower pots, you name it. Mulch was significantly easier to maintain for me. Granted, now that the kids are a bit older they are learning their lessons, but that was enough to ban rocks forever on my property... If that is not an issue for you, rocks stay in place much better when using a leaf blower to clean things up!


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## ReelWILawn (Aug 29, 2021)

[/quote]
That looks nice. Is that concrete curbing around the bed? If so did you DIY that or have someone do it. Curious of the cost of that. Thx
[/quote]

Thank you. Yes it's concrete curbing and we had a curbing contractor install this for us last year. Prior to installation, I did rent a sod cutter and removed all the extra grass and was able to redefine the beds we wanted. It was brutally hot the day of the install and it looked very labor intensive. We received a number of quotes from different installers and I believe the quotes ranged from $8-$15 a square foot. Overall we are very happy with it.


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