Up till now we've always covered the ground in the shrub and flower beds with wood derived mulch.
Now we've decided we like the looks of rocks in place of the old mulch and are wondering if there any associated problems.
What about fertilizing? Can we just distribute the granular types on top of the rocks? Anything that we should be aware of before we spend the money on the rocks?
Our home is in Central Florida.
Thanks for any advice.
When your shrubs drop some leaves as a normal course of living, they blend in and decompose in the mulch. If you have landscape stones the dropped leaves stand out and look pretty dorky, and it's hard as the dickens to clean them out with a landscape rake.
You should consider the cost and hassle of putting down landscape fabric under the rocks. Then, anytime you want to plant something, you have to deal with moving the rocks and the fabric. I think stone mulch is a "look" that comes and goes. It was very popular in the 60s in my area. Natural mulch is always in style and is better for your plants and easier to work around when you need to plant something. If stone mulch was really great, you would see it in all the Central Florida theme parks and high-end resorts - which you don't. Down the road if you decide to get rid of it, you will have a big job and a disposal issue.
at the school where i work they had stones at one time and now use mulc
instead. we had nothing but a mess there mentioned from leaf dropping and everything. they now find it a lot easier to look after the perennial beds, shrub and things without the stones as a top dressing. there are a number of coloured mulches also that look really nice o the flowerbeds maybe that would be something else to consider because do agree i think you will have some mess if u want to divide, transplan or move anything. tak care, sockiescat.
Now we've decided we like the looks of rocks in place of the old mulc and are wondering if there any associated problems.
What about fertilizing? Can we just distribute the granular types o top of the rocks? Anything that we should be aware of before we spend the money on the rocks?
Our home is in Central Florida.
You should consider the cost and hassle of putting down landscap fabric under the rocks. Then, anytime you want to plant something, you hav to deal with moving the rocks and the fabric. I think stone mulch is "look" that comes and goes. It was very popular in the 60s in my area. Natural mulch is always in style and is better for your plants and easier t work around when you need to plant something. If stone mulch was reall great, you would see it in all the Central Florida theme parks and high-end resorts - which you don't. Down the road if you decide to get rid o it, you will have a big job and a disposal issue
-- sockiescat
Even though rocks are pretty they'er a mess. Use wood mulch, it is easier and less mantinance than stones or rocks
From the replies here, I'm going to rethink the use of landscape rocks.
Thanks to all....
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Rock mulch, around here is usually granite or dolomite. It looks nice when it's new, but quickly becomes ugly. It's almost impossible to keep it looking neat and clean as leaves settle in it. It gets worked into the soil every time you dig, and it's hell when you try and remove it later on.
Stick to traditional wood based mulch, it's easier and good for the soil.
-S
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