Will small stones keep weeds out????

12 years ago

Not sure this is the right forum to ask this, but here goes.

Presently I use mulch. I am 66 and am the sole caregiver to my husband 24/7, so less and less I have time to work in my flower beds. I hate stones to tell the truth. But I thought if I use them in my hosta bed (and there are a couple other perennial plants in there along with the hostas) that I could take the mulch out, put down landscape fabric and then put stones on top. But will it keep the weeds out?

I have a front flower bed with mulch and I am almost done getting all the small 4x4 beds (there are 3 plus two 2x4 beds) re-landscaped with landscape fabric and mulch. I would put stones in there but I have plants that come back every year and afraid the stones would prevent them from coming back?? I have creeping phlox, a rose bush, shasta daisy, some sedum and a Hydrangea plus 2 clematis vines.

Any help you can give is appreciated. Thanks,

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Comments (5)

User
12 years ago
No, they won't. Landscape fabric and mulch (stones or coarse bark) traps wind-blown dirt and the weeds sprout in the dirt above the landscape fabric.

A thick layer of mulch makes it less likely that weeds seeds will sprout, and makes them easier to pull.
garden_views
12 years ago
I agree with LazyGardens that gravel will not block weeds. I have gravel walk ways with landscape fabric beneath and weeds still manage to grow. Perhaps blowing dust collects on the landscape fabric to create a home for the floating seeds. I still use landscape fabric, but started sprinkling Preen weed preventer over the mulch beds and gravel walk ways each spring and again in late summer. Directions say to water after. The container is lightweight and easy to use. Keep in mind that you must remove current weeds as Preen is only a "preventer" not a killer.
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cadillactaste
12 years ago
We went with hardscape. You can see the one bed I kept mulch in due to having cone flowers. I find that I pull less weeds in my hardscape than previous years of fighting with weeds when it was mulched. What do appear come out far easier. Because it's roots have no where to root down in. My husband also uses weed killer spray and will go about doing a hit and miss on the weeds. But all and all...the hardscape makes weeding far easier...and the critters doesn't toss it about like they did with the mulch. I could never keep mulch in the beds...it was constantly tossed into the grassy areas of our lawn. Come fall...a leaf blower is nice to just go over the beds with...the rocks keep their place and the leaves are blown away.

This post was edited by cadillactaste on Thu, Jun 26, 14 at 16:31
gnappi
12 years ago
I'm in Florida the haven for weeds 365 days a year!

I've tried the fabric under mulch, and under stone nada... I tried all of the "one year" weed killers and preen (which is totally useless down here) as well.

Down here only two things get weeds. Pulling them daily, and HDX spray from Home Depot.

HDX is the best killer I found. It appears to work slowly, taking a week or more to kill the weeds, but it is totally lethal. AND it's OK to use around ornamentals and edibles if you follow the directions closely.
nanaclaire
Original Author
12 years ago
I decided to just cultivate and pull them as needed. I am not putting in stones. I can't really spray weed killer because of all the flowers and bushes in that bed.