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Originally Posted by aldeana
It's a BIG mistake to put rocks down in landscaping. The desert look belongs in Arizona, not FL. Rocks will increase your ambient temperatures (do we need that?) and I guarantee you, it will not keep weeds out. Weeding is much more difficult around rocks (if you want to remove weed roots). If anything, use pine bark instead. It's a good idea to put an under layer of weed cloth, but you really don't need to remove the pine straw. It will disintegrate eventually. Just put the weed cloth over it, then the pine bark. Lots cheaper solution and environmentally sound. And consult with a master gardener about landscaping with FL friendly plants. You can do a Zoom consultation. Sumter County Master Gardeners - The Villages |
I agree that rock mulches are more for the Southwest USA and Mexico where cacti and succulents thrive in the hot, alkaline rocks. If you choose to use a natural mulch then large pine bark nuggets can work well. The large size nuggets shade the surface so few weeds can germinate. Don’t install a weed mat under the bark as you will not benefit the plants and soil organisms that thrive when the mulch breaks down and improves the soil. You also don’t want a weed mat or rocks as they interfere with any gardening or planting of seasonal flowers. I have been using bark nuggets for over seven years and I have few weeds and the plants and trees are thriving. The bark mulch has a low ph and lowers our high ph soil that exists around many parts of the Villages. The ph around here can come in at 8 which is too high for most plants and trees we plant in our yards. Rocks are usually high ph and add to the alkalinity of our soils. Rocks get too hot and can stress many plants in our hot summers. I know Villagers come in high in the conformity scale but why copy a landscape that looks more like New Mexico than Florida? Yes, you have to add more bark nuggets over time but you are continually improving your soil and your plants will thrive. Rocks on top of landscape fabric seals your poor native soil in and no improvement in the soil occurs with decomposition of organic materials. No worms and few soil organisms produce a poor growing medium for plants. Sure new landscape looks good the first few years when rocks and fabric are spread around but in time the plants decline and stop thriving. Then the weeds sprout in the rocks and out comes the Roundup. We live in Florida. Look around outside the Villages, most divisions use bark mulch. It’s dark, natural color gives a classic look to any landscape.