Weeds In The Rock Garden
 

I know, I know, all Villagers complain about weeds, just as we complain about having to drive 15 minutes to get somewhere.
This is different. Something is radically wrong here. I have the conventional rock landscape around the house with weed mat and flowers. IF I DONT WEED DAILY...the weeds begin to take over. God forbid, if I miss a day or two, you can't see the rocks for the weeds. Recently I dumped...not sprayed...half a huge container of Round Up on a particularly difficult area. And yes the weeds are back.
I beginning to wonder if my landscaping is too wet underneath.
Thanking you in advance, I appreciate any and all advice you can offer from your vast bank of wisdom, expertise, and experience, including names of reliable contractors or any other success your had in this weedy battle.

Ron Rufrano

Vinegar with a little salt and a squirt of liquid soap is a safe alternative to Round-Up.

Are you using Round Up with preventive? Get the Round up that prevents weeds from returning, not the regular just kill stuff......Sounds like the weed mat used was not very effective. Might want to give the landscaper a call to come check their work.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Roundup-...0605/302681458

Some say the salt is not good for the soil.
Oh wait... what soil.

What happens is the weed block fabric under the stones breaks down after a while and the weeds poke through.
I have the same problem. One solution is to remove the rocks and replace the fabric. Then put the stones back (big job).
This is stronger than regular RoundUp.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/ORTHO-Groun...Killer/3827749

We share your pain. It is next to impossible to keep out weeds without spraying them with Nast stuff. We hate to use chemicals and tried for a few years to avoid them, but have grown sick and tired of wasting our precious Villages time on our hands and knees pulling weeds. We finally gave up and now pay our lawn guy to spray the weeds and spend our time in the Villages doing much more fun things.

Agreed! Vinegar & salt are better weed killers :boxing2: & significantly less harmful to environment (water table). :bigbow:

It works for me. I buy the Epson salt and vinegar from Sam’s.

The good thing about all of the rain we have had recently is that it makes the weeds easy to pull.

Weed-pulling can be quite therapeutic if you don't think of it as a chore.

Do you have other plants in there, to try to block out the weeds?

I've never seen it worse than it is this year. There is some lacey looking stuff, some green and some reddish in color, that seems to show up everywhere. What is this stuff and where do all the seeds come from?

Roundup has a pre emergent which works fairly well. Use it only in your gardens! We had a landscaper use it and it worked well for about 6 months. I reapplied and used it other areas not done by the landscaper. I still have a few weeds, but a lot less than before.

I'm going to give the Vinegar method a shot. I don't know if this helps the OP but for the first time in 3 years, the grass growing in the decorative stone is outta control. I would think it has to do with the heavy rain lately.

We bought the best Weed Block and crisscrossed it and added a third level where needed and still, grass & weeds. We are living in Jurrasic Park. Good Luck.

Here we go....
There are many grades and types of 'weed block'. Commercial grades take decades to break down a little bit.

Most of your weeds are not growing "up through" but DOWN through from seeds on top.

Different types of stone keep weeds at bay better than others. Deeper stone is BAD, and increases the ability of the weeds to grow.

No plants in the bed give weeds more light and water to grow. Good landscape design and practices trumps the wreck n ball /throw in whatever you think looks good , method.

I HATE chemicals...but...PREEN PREEN PREEN! Use more, use more often... it works.

NO WEED KILLER EXISTS that will work better than PULLING weeds on a REGULAR BASIS. Dead weeds are dropping seeds, and are just as ugly as live weeds.
You can get bad infestations under control in about a month pulling once a week and applying preen after each removal session. Then good luck finding a maintenance company that will actually pull weeds, seems they are just as lazy as we are, and prefer to believe there is a magic spray somewhere that will work better.
Weekly round up and regular Preen applications do work, but most do not know how to use Round Up without major overspray damage to your shrubs and lawn.

MOST IMPORTANT... anyone pulling weeds without a 'dibbler' or some tool to work the roots out...are wasting their time.

Good luck !
Ozz

Sometimes I wish I were as strong and resilient as a weed.

Trust me. I understand. We pulled weeds on Thursday evening and the weeds are back already. I didn't spray anything when I was done. It started storming over here really badly. I hope the Vinegar works. Environmentally and breathing those chemical treatments are not good. I'm skeptical but willing to learn. :pray: