Rocks give a Southwest USA feel to a landscape. They benefit cacti and agave and other plants needing a dry surface around them. Conformity and a perceived ease of care continue to favor the use of rock as a mulch in The Villages. The University of Florida recommends an organic mulch such as pine straw or pine bark as it keeps the soil cool and breaks down to help feed the plants. Our soil here is overall, pretty poor and compacted and when you plant in it and cover it with landscape cloth and rocks you are sealing it in a tomb of poor soil that will never improve. I have looked elsewhere around housing developments far from here and the use of rocks as mulch is much less than here. This post gives you an indication of why The Villages is different, the OP is noticing a lot of rocks around and is wondering if he should do the same. Rocks appear to be low maintenance in the beginning but as time goes by dust and dirt settle in the rocks and then weeds grow in the rocks. Plants do not like growing in rocks, they prefer organic mulches, people like to conform and have no work so they choose rocks, but it ends up needing frequent applications of weed killers. Some of the best weed killers may not be available in the future so an organic mulch may be a good alternative. Who ever used rocks where they came from? Rocks are for Mexico and Southwest USA not Florida. My opinion only, obviously.
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