If it were me, I'd put a double layer of weed barrier cloth under it. Otherwise, you'll be be spraying or weeding constantly. With the weed barrier, it would be much less.

We have been building a fake fountain to fill with blue round glass pieces and have a weed barrier under it. However, it's disconcerting how some weeds have already managed to penetrate it! The double layer sounds like the way to go.

I would love to see photos of your faux water feature when
it's done. I thought about making a faux streambed with a little wooden bridge over it somewhere in my garden. :-)

Cheers,
Michelle

There are rocks along our 5' easement on our property, and along the drip line of the house with weed barrier underneath it and my experience is that it is a waste of money. It offers some protection from weeds that would come up from underneath the rocks, but what happens is that weed seeds will land in the rocks, and germinate, then the roots will grow into the weed barrier making them very difficult to pull out. At our last house it was the same situation, and I found that grass grew very nicely on tope of the barrier and was nearly impossible to irradicate. If the rock layer is deep enough, that in itself will decrease the number of weeds, but no matter which way you choose to go, it is likely that you will still have to deal with some weeds.

Michelle, I would love to see pictures of your rock bed/fountain, too. It sounds beautiful!

Bonnie

I have a small stream/waterfall between two ponds that actually has water running in it some of the time, so we used rubber liner under the rocks. But after 10 years, the weeds have yet to penetrate that. Probably overkill for a dry stream.

Hi Didact,

IÂm a little bit hesitant to recommend this because IÂve never used it myself or personally known anyone who has, but if you absolutely, positively know you donÂt want to plant anything in that area for at least 2 or 3 years, you could consider a chemical soil sterilant. The most common one is Ortho Triox.

Unlike Roundup, which works thru the foliage and doesnÂt affect the soil, sterilants work thru the soil and can kill directly thru the roots, so you need to be absolutely certain youÂre not using it around, over, or near the roots of any trees, bushes, or anything else you donÂt want to kill. Also, the package will say it works for up to a year, but itÂs possible for it to be effective far beyond that, so you couldnÂt be sure of effectively growing anything in that area for probably 3 years if you changed your mind.

If you use landscape fabric or any other type of weed barrier, two layers will definitely be better than one, but after a year of so youÂll still find that decomposing plant matter and other soil has blown in on top of the barrier and weeds will grow on top of it. If you decide to go that way, just keep a bottle of Roundup around and spritz any weeds that start as soon as they have enough leaves for it to work.

Good luck, and show us a picture of it when youÂve finished it,
Skybird

Here is a link that might be useful: Triox info.

Thanks again all. I wish I had read highaltranslpant's answer before I went ahead this Saturday and did it over the weed barrier, as I think you're probably right. Once consequence of using it is that I had to use a few more rocks to completely cover the black cloth or it looked weird. Can't do the soil chemical thing as it's right next to planted beds.
Anyway it's almost done, still gathering a few more loads of river rocks from my secret free (and ethical and legal) location--a field sitting ready for construction. It's beautiful. Such a nice contrast with planted beds. Just 2-3 feet in a curving line maybe 20 feet long outlining a perennial bed.