Mulch substitute -- crushed brick ??

I have a fairly large gazebo, built on the side of a mountain, on a sloped site. I have planted many plants all around the structure, and I need a mulch substitute. The site is too steep for regular mulch. or straw, as the rains will just wash it down. Same problem with installing weed screens, any mulch on top of that will just wash away.

I have seen what looks like crushed red brick in commercial restaurants such as McDonald's etc. It may be a lava type product, but the last time I noticed, it looks like crush brick pieces. It is a reddish color, and it looks really good where I have seen it.

The problem (and my question) is whether or not weeds are a big problem if you use that product as a mulch subtitute. I would think that if you got it 3 or 4 inches deep, weeds would not grow through it, like it will with mulch. My thinking is that mulch retains moisture, and promotes weed growth, and that the brick product would not hold moisture. By the way, this is in a shady area, and the "mulch" would be more for looks that for preserving moisture for the plants. That is not a concern or problem in my situation.

Have any of you ever used this crushed brick product, or can any of you offer comments or advice ??

Thank you very much !!

James

Reply to
James
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It usually is a lava, and it is, imho, ugly. Terribly ugly when it's not like the native rock of the area.

Weeds (and other seeds) require several things for germination:

1) a suitable growing medium 2) enough water 3) light

The easy way to prevent weed growth is what agronomists call "canopy closure" -- plants growing so densely that light doesn't reach the soil. Or starving the surrounding soil of water, which you're not going to do during the establishment phase of the plantings. 3-4" of coarse rock isn't likely to do much unless it's well packed. Doesn't sound like you can provide that. Red light of the wavelengths that trigger germination can penetrate 18" of some soils.

If you're dealing with a slope so steep you can't keep mulch on it, you're going to continue to have erosion. Were it mine, I'd probably do some mini-terracing and use an organic mulch with a tackifier until the plantings are dense enough to hold the soil.

Reply to
Kay Lancaster

IMO, stone and mulch don't differ all that much in detering weeds. I've used mulch for years with no major weed problems. And rock sounds good, at least initially. But after time, organic matter, like leaf fragments, wind blown dust, etc, settle in and then there is enough matter to support some weeds.

A draw back to rocks is that in hot environments, they expose the plants to a lot more heat stress than mulch would. However, in the right place with the right plants stone can be fine.

I'm having a hard time figuring out how mulch is so easily coming off a sloped area. I have 2 steep piles of mulch sitting in my driveway for 2 months now and they haven't spread out. Is a lot of water washing down from a hill above? If so, a solution might be to put a drainpipe along the slope above the mulch/planting area to intercept the runoff and route it around the bed.

Reply to
trader4

Agree w/ the other two respondents' comments.

Only would add that imo if you think the look appropriate for the area, it could be sufficient to hold the weed barrier in place. It definitely won't stop weed growth on its own and indeed will be less effective by itself than mulch by itself owing to the porous nature. Undoubtedly those installations you've seen have barrier cloth below.

Reply to
dpb

Lava rock will definitely be displaced before real rock would be - I made the mistake of dumping a cart load into our channel and found out the darn stuff floats! Shredded cypress, thick enough, compacted and damp, will stay in place against a leaf blower. It will last a couple of years and blocks most weeds. Nothing will keep out all weeds, but shr. cypress works best here in FL. River rock on top of landscape cloth works very well, also.

To keep any mulch from going downhill on a slope, you can use either an edging or plants - clumps of grassy plants would keep it in place.

With stone on top of landscape cloth, you need to avoid dumping soil on top of it. Accumulated soil - there will always be a little - will grow weeds but sparingly; weeds here will have shallow roots and be easy to pull out.

Reply to
Norminn

Google "rubber mulch". It's made from shredded tires, dyed in several colors, and you have to look very close to tell it's not cypress mulch. Available in most localities.

Red

Reply to
Red

Yep, I can play with words too.

There's organic mulch, meant to absorb and contain moisture and promote growth of surrounding plants. Not to be confused with the close relative word: compost. There's, also, inorganic mulch which does the opposite. Like crushed brick.

There's also mulch used a perimeter boundary around trees and so forth that's organic but has slow decay process. Depth of such mulch is key in preventing growth of unwanted plant growth other than the tree itself.

Mulch, what BS word. Ought be politicized. Dave

Reply to
Dave

It may be lava rock as others have suggested (it would have holes thoughout each piece), but one large landscape supplier near me does indeed carry crushed red tile.

Reply to
DT

Germination of seed does not require light of any kind. Nor does it require any soil or other medium. Presence of adequate, but not overdoing it, water is required. The other primordial requirement is temperature range.

Many people, including myself, can cause a pinto bean to germinate on a sponge in the window sill. Dave

Reply to
Dave

As I said... suitable growing medium, enough water, light (try growing that pinto bean in a darkroom for a few weeks) And yes, temperature is a factor. So is oxygen tension. Both are generally not an issue in upper level natural seed banks outdoors.

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Reply to
Kay Lancaster

James wrote: [...]

[cutting to the chase]

I've seen it at Barbecue Bob's Family Style Restaurants. It looks really good and tastes even better. It's a bean type product.

I think he's over at alt.cooking-chat. And now to return to the topic... I wonder how Bob cleans small blotches on linoleum.

Reply to
Denominator

He doesn't. He's got tile.

peggo

Reply to
peggo

I mean the kitchen, not the restrooms/snackrooms. If he put bathroom flooring in the kitchen, no decent chef would work for him.

Reply to
Denominator

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