Posted on 05/04/2024 12:11:37 PM PDT by Leaning Right
An older friend of mine inherited a house with a large flower garden in the back. The flower garden is maybe 10 feet by 30 feet.
Between the flowers and the shrubbery there are many weeds (no surprise there). A landscaper she talked to will clear the area of weeds, and has given her some options to control future weed growth.
Great idea.
> After year of mulching our home’s 8’ perimeter, we decided to replace the mulched area with river stone (smooth 2”-3”). <
Interesting, thanks. By the 2”-3”, did you mean the depth of the stone layer? Then no or few weeds?
> Rototill and plant grass. <
If it were my property and not my friend’s, that’s absolutely what I would do. But I’d leave an azalea or two.
I have used a product called Pramitol 25 in areas where I don’t want anything to grow. You need to keep it away from anything that you want to keep, it takes out everything. If have purchased it from agriculture supply stores.
And wonderful fun on Saturday night
No - 2”-3” is the size/diameter of the smooth river stone that I used. You'll want to lay a weed/fabric barrier before you place your stone. The depth of the stones you lay can be as little as enough to fully cover the fabric or deeper if you like.
We are currently in the middle of a professional landscaping project. Our designer agrees with you. If you google about problems with weed fabric you will quickly learn it is much less than ideal and creates its own problems.
Here is a link to the University of Illinois' agricultural extension that describes the disadvantages of weed fabric and offers alternatives:
Ahh, at last, a poster with the same question I have.
I see a request for help, a general statement, but no question.
I put down a layer of mulch in the Spring around all the shrubs, two to three inches thick, then apply a granular weed preventer on top of the mulch, and then activate the granules with a fine spray of water. Repeat the granules in early July. Another option is to allow perennial ground covers to grow, such as wild raspberries, but you have to trim this to make sure it does not spread too much. Get the mulch delivered to your house in bags.
Ask Diana ANYTHING about gardening.
She knows it all.
Or at least there’s nothing I’ve seen her not be able to answer.
Weeds will grow through the stones.
Tried it. Didn’t work.
Actually, weeds can grow through the landscape fabric.
And they are tough to pull out.
We’re fighting the invasives battle.
And we’re trying to plant native fauna.
It’s going to take years. We’ve made progress in the last couple years, but it will be a continual battle.
Stones are a PITA. I would only use stone in areas that are going to be edging against a lawn; planting in them before, during or after is a PITA. And, you’ll still get weeds.
I like the idea of a fabric barrier and then mulch. It looks nice, and yes, it needs some upkeep (I am mulching the terraced gardens around my greenhouse this season; every 3 years seems to work for me.
Mulch it first then, after she’s lived with it a while, she can always add more perennials and shrubs back in that spot depending upon the amount of sunlight it gets.
Consider perennial grasses if she wants carefree and pretty.
3 & 5 are best options ...
Roofing shingles followed by mulch or pea stone of choice.
Is the new owner a gardener?
Do they really want the garden?
Would it be much more expensive to “reset” the garden completely so they have their garden fabric and new earth and mulch and whatever seedlings they want?
What about a green house? That probably would be expensive. But weeds and wildlife (unless you can open the windows to bees) won’t get at it.
Maybe they set up chairs and lounged in the evenings or good weather? Better access to the azeleas?
If you want a ground cover plant periwinkle. It is a low growing vine that is fabulous out competing with annual weeds.
> Is the new owner a gardener? <
My friend, the new owner, is an older lady who had no interest or ability to be an active gardener. I should have mentioned that in my original post.
Organic Panic mentioned periwinkle as a ground cover (thanks, OP). I’m going to look into that.
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