That’s what we use, not a fan of roundup. To the OP, don’t use pine straw or bark mulch, they will decompose over time and provide a growing environment for weeds making the problem worse, not better. Florida is a great place, but things like weeds, lightning storms, and pollen allergies come with the beautiful tropical weather. You can fight them, but you can’t beat them.

After you pull existing weeds use PREEN. 95% of The weeds are between the stone and the barrier not from the ground Since using PREEN on our stone we rarely ever see a weed. This all assumes your weed barrier is properly installed and intact and not full of holes were pre-existing plants have been removed. PREEN does not kill weeds it PREVENTS THEM so exiting weeds must be removed first.

The VINEGAR weed mixture workds GREAT !!!! You really have to wet the weeds and may have to spray a second time but ususally NOT needed.......YOU do however make sure that you mix it really good and correctly and spray when it is over 70 this helps. I mix it in a old week killer 1.5 gallon and transfer to the spray bottle. Its cheaper than buying ready mixes too !!! BTW the person that wrote about the grass I have artificial and looks like real grass !!!! In arizona BEST thing I ever did cuts back on water and BUGS

I have artificial grass in AZ best thing I ever did !!!! BUGS have gone away too !!! Looks real.......just depends on what youput in and how

Ground clear KILLS EVERYTHING. Just be careful around your grass cause it'll kill it real quick.

River Rock - NOT white stones
 

River rock are smooth and light brown in color. White stone reflects heat and kills plant around them. Both will have weed problems over time. Just spot spray when see some. Straw only lasts about six months and pine bark turns an ugly silver color after about a year. I have had river rock for over six years and am very satisfied with it.

Weed Killer
 

I have been using BioAdvanced weed & grass killer and BioAdvance brush killer for years up north and here in Fl. Works well but takes 3-5 days before you see any results (label says 1 day or less). Kills more kinds of weeds than others (by actual experience). Costs $10-$14. Mix with H2O, use with hand sprayer, easy. Definitely recommend.

Thanks for all the great advice. However, I forgot to mention that I am a snowbird and will be absent from this place for 6 months per year. We had some landscapers who do not come when the homeowners are not present and had to change them many times but as you may know, no-one seems to care about your yards as you do. They just want to get paid. Anyway, if there is a way ( Vinegar, weed/grass killer etc.. ) that could last 6 months during the summer, then I am willing and able to take care ( Pulling etc.. ) them myself when I am here..

Cheers!

I always laugh when I read posts like this. People plant all kinds of plants and use all kinds of decorative materials like stone, when there’s such an obvious answer to the question of what will “work” here in The Villages. The answer is simple…. USE WHAT THE DEVELOPER USES!

The Developer employs all kinds of experts who choose the plants, trees and bedding materials which work best in this area. They also regularly seek the advice of the University of Florida and consultants. And as you can see, their stuff “works”.

One thing you never see the Developer using is stone in their plant beds. Why?

— It’s expensive
— Because it gets hot, it uses much
more water to keep plants healthy.
— Over time it requires much more
maintenance.

I also dislike weed barriers. I have seen weed roots grow right through them. My wife like the cloth weed barriers and believes that they work. I remove them from any area of the yard that I am working on. I tend to like stone yards because they do not need lawn mowing. I prefer to plant shrubs, hedges, and trees and spend my energy pruning them instead of mowing, which I think is boring.
........If you have rocks and no one is complaining, then you are good, actually golden.

Our weed cloth has been in the ground for about 7 years. EVERY time I pull up a section of that weed cloth, I find weed roots penetrated way through the cloth.

Interesting, I have never tried that.

We have a similar, but much more intense devise, called a weed dragon (google it). It torches the weeds and is kind of fun to use, but it doesn't kill the roots and will cause lots of collateral damage if you are not very careful. The dam weeds in Florida are incredibly resilient to anything but the most very nasty chemicals. They are truly a very formidable opponent that will never let you beat them into total submission. When you think you won the battle, just give them another hot/humid summer growing season. They'll be back!

I have never seen so much use of stone mulch anywhere I have visited except in the arid west. In Las Vegas I visited a friend who had beautiful cacti and succulents in gorgeous white stone mulch. Absolutely striking! They had severe water restrictions so no grass plus the plants needed a rock or sand mulch to avoid rotting problems. Here in Florida pine straw or bark mulch work well. They keep the soil cool and suppress weed growth and replenish soil nutrients as they decompose. The bacteria and fungi organisms proliferate and the plants and trees thrive. It always amazes me that people hermetically seal their poor soil with landscape fabric and then add tons of rocks on top. No nutrients for their plants and they slowly use up all the nutrients that the poor soil has left and then they slowly starve until somebody pours chemical fertilizers all over them and that is not healthy. I have been adding bark mulch for ten years and the soil is very fertile. Very few weeds are evident as I replenish the large pine nuggets seasonally. (ACE loads them in my SUV) I also plant native ground covers such as swamp twinflower, frogfruit, dwarf Walter’s Viburnum, dwarf “Psycho”coffee, etc, etc,, so there is little room for the weeds to grow. I rarely spray as the weeds are minimal plus I have many insects and birds I don’t want to harm. I don’t need much fertilizer anymore as the soil food web of my yard is very active. Bacteria and fungi feed the forests of the world and they can provide a great food source for our yards. There is nothing wrong with bees, butterflies, bats, snakes, possums, etc.. I am a devout gardener so my views may not be helpful to the normal homeowner, but if you want to help the environment and all the native flora and fauna of this beautiful state of Florida skip the Southwest and Mexican rock mulching and use pine straw or bark mulch.

I agree with poster #8 and #15....weeds will come whatever you do. Preen sprinkled every 3-4 months or the newer 6 month application has always worked the best. It will reduce the weeds that come drastically as a preemergent but the seeds already there may still come for a period of time, just pick them as you see them emerge so they don't go to seed. I walk around and pick tiny sprouts and that has made a huge difference. I have mulch by the way and just top dress it every Spring. Easier to pull small weeds than rock(as I know because I pick my neighbors weeds from her rock)