Steve wrote:

"mr smith" wrote on 04 Apr 2008 in group
alt.home.repair:



i have around my home, some shrubs, hedges and other
assorted plant life.

i think the previous owner had some "mulch" in the
areas where those plants were.

other areas have a lot of rocks, that, from one landscape
guy told me, he didn't lay down a fabric, so the rocks
just over the years sank into the dirt.

my question is, which is better ?

(a). to go with root mulch (not the wood type that
termites love),

or

(b). rocks with a layer of anti-weed fabric underneath

i think the rocks are a better idea, because it "should"
help water run off during storms... right ? i mean at
least that's what i think rocks in a perimeter drain do.
(house does have a perimeter drain system by the way).

but i have no experience with this type of stuff and
am wondering what most people choose (and why).



Trader4 covered most of the issues. Here are a couple mo
* The smaller the stones, the more trouble you'll have. Pea gravel moves
a lot. The wind can blow it around. Baseball-sized stones stay put, and
you can remove and replace them more easily when you have to replace the
fabric in a few years.


It comes labelled for how long it is supposed to last. Ours is about 8
years old, doing fine, but it
doesn't last forever.

* Did I mention that the fabric will have to be replaced in a few years.
You'll *love* that job.
* Wind-blown dirt will eventually fill in around the stones. It's a pain
to dig them out.


A border is important to keep rock out of the lawn. I have seen med.
river rock break glass on
second story. As for water, the ground should slope away from the
house, and water would run
off rock more quickly (leass permeating the soil) during heavy rain.
Landscape cloth lets through
plenty of moisture and the rock keeps ground from drying too much for
the plants. No heat issue
that I have observed. I would not consider pea gravel,lava rock, nor
sm. river rock. Lava rock
ic crap. Med. river rock stays in place with leaf blower so you can
keep most debris out of it; sm.
river rock moves easily.