Stacy,

I had a similar situation with paths which were becoming overladen with weeds and couldn't kill them due to the fact that vegetables are in the beds. I remedied the problem with laying down a strong weedfabric from Home Depot and covered with a few bags of soft mulch on each pathway and it is far better than the stones which were there previously. That is my suggestion. Vicki

Hardwood mulch.......alot of it.

I think your idea of weed blocker with gravel is by far the best solution in this situation. Not weed barrier actually, but heavy landscape fabric. I have seen this used by itself in greenhouses and nurseries with nothing over it. It works well. Pea gravel or an equivalent over the fabric would be fine as a decorative and protective covering. I doubt there would be any serious problem with the gravel being washed.

Don't use wood or bark mulches unless you are prepared to remove and replace them when they decay and become compost which will support weed growth.

Jim

We put down cardboard between our raised beds and then cover it with grass clippings. There's hardly a weed out there.

I see you're in TX as am I. Gravel reflects a lot of light and heat so I don't really care for it especially around veg. I would go with cedar mulch over a weed fabric (you could also put cardboard under the fabric). If you have a slope problem, then try putting down a one by one piece of wood to keep the mulch from washing down hill. Just lay it on the ground... doesn't need to be nailed into the rock.

I have the same problem by the way. I'm on the side of a rocky hill. I'm building raised beds, slowly but surely, in a pattern. I'll eventually have mulched pathways inbetween. Right now the weeds aren't a huge problem. I like the idea of mulch instead of rock because it will let natural rainfall slowly penetrate the ground.

I'm currently using cedar mulch in all of my flower beds which are on gradual slopes and the mulch I bought 7 years ago is still holding up, not breaking down, or washing away.

I mulched with wood chips, and now that it has broken down into nice, crumbly soil, some of my paths are a carpet of weeds. Where I have little weeds I adopted the following solution.

I am in MI, where heat is not a problem, but the best solution here is crushed limestone (on plastic sheeting or weed blocker), which will not move about, like gravel. Make sure you place the blocker under the raised beds edges, I only get weeds there now.

If you use rock you have a slipping issue each time you walk downhill. I don't think there is any way to stop that with cardboard or regular weedbarriers, it's just an issue with gravel. I have used with great success the landscapers commercial grade felt underlayment.. The felt solves the slippage issue and holds whatever you put on top a lot more securely. It's the only thing that has worked like I wanted in our dry stream bed.. Think flannel sheets and how your covers don't move around much - same thing with the felt.

I use cardboard topped with old hay. Not only do weeds stay out, but remains as a cover for my garden when I bed it down for the winter.

I use leaf mulch in my beds, really thick. It looks nice and when I see weeds, I just apply more. Plus, it is easy and cheap.

I used cardboard,then pieces of carpet-because I had it! We've been in the process of removing the original carpet from the entire downstairs and putting down wide pine floors (it's been going on for way too many months!) Then, I started spreading mulch this year. As the stuff breaks down, I will just flip it over so the mulch is under the carpet and add more.

We had gravel in a piece of the yard (when we bought it) and it was still growing weeds, and was crazy to clean leaves out of!

{{gwi:60770}}

I use cardboard topped with wheat straw. Sparrows eat all the wheat. By fall, the straw is getting rotten so I just pick it up, put it in the beds, and till it under by hand. By spring it's composted. I've done this for years. Nice garden site, djscrap...