How to Use Rock as a Ground Cover to Control Your Weeds

For those of us who like to garden, it is always fun to till the soil, put plants in the ground, and watch them grow. And then summer comes and the weeds set in. Not only are weeds unsightly, if left unattended, they can rapidly overtake the rest of your plants.

A basic way of controlling weeds is to cover the flower bed with landscape fabric, and then lay rocks or bark over the fabric to prevent weeds from sprouting. The advantage of using rocks is that they do not break down over time and do not require constant refilling. Also, you don’t have to worry about them getting blown off your bed every time a storm comes. This is especially important if your flower bed is located in an open area where you get frequent gust of wind.

Rock is purchased by the yard and comes in different color and sizes. You can purchase rock directly from a quarry or a garden center. When making your selection of rocks, show the measurement of your flower bed to a salesperson and he or she should be able to direct you as to the amount of the rock you’ll need to cover your bed.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Rocks, landscape fabric, scissors, gloves, shovel, rake, and wheelbarrow.

1. Map out the area of your garden or flower bed. Purchase enough landscape fabric and rocks to fill in the entire area of your flower bed.

2. Rake your ground until it is level, lay landscape fabric over the ground and secure the edges of the fabric with stakes. If you have existing plants on the ground, cut some holes in the fabric to fit your plants through.

3. Once the landscape fabric is laid, shovel your rocks into a wheelbarrow, and then unload them on top of the landscape fabric. Take extra care with existing plants so their leaves won’t be buried by the rock.

4. Use a shovel to fill the entire bed with rocks. Rake the rocks from time to time to ensure they are spread evenly.

5. Once the rocks are all spread, water the ground thoroughly to help them settle.

6. To put new plants into the ground, lay the rocks aside, cut a line through the landscape fabric, and then stick the plant into the ground. Cover up the surrounding area again with the fabric and the rocks.

Tips & Warnings

• While either bark or rocks help to minimize the intrusion of weeds, neither can entirely eliminate the weeds from coming up.

[gwguruman]

on 5/14/2009 I just purchased a home that seems to have been neglected outside for many years. I'm not a garden person at all. I have a question regarding the use of landscape fabric and rocks on top of that. My home has a lot of this combination in use, but I have a lot of dirt also on top of the landscape fabric along with the rocks on top of that dirt layer. Is that dirt with the rocks suppose to be there or did it accumulate over the years where I need to remove it. I seem to get a lot of weeds with this current setup.

[Laurie123]

on 10/1/2008 Gret information and easy to follow steps. Thanx!

[Ballzy]

on 9/25/2008 Great Information! 5*

[Kilogramm]

on 9/23/2008 I put down rows of bricks in the backyard to stop all the weeds, wish I would've read this first, sounds alot easier. Thanks so much for this!