Weed Control for Rock Beds

[Stan Calow]

I am still not convinced that no fabric is better than having fabric. I have fabric (heavy, not hardware store stuff) on three sides of the house, and besides weed control, it provides some help with drainage. They're all rock beds as the mulch I used before attracts insects (including a termite nest I found once). i still have to pull weeds and use oundup, but nothing is maintenance free. Great point about soil movement, especially around the foundation.

[Jim Becker]

Stan, there clearly is a difference between the typical mass market weed block fabric and geotextile; the latter is much heavier but still permeable by water. The Vevor product I used under my shop was pretty impressive and I have some left over that I'll likely use where I feel I need something like that.

[John Lifer]

I've got one LARGE 20x40 foot bed that's rock in my front and two 20x30 ft at the end of the driveway. all had fabric under the rock. In 5 years, it is WORTHLESS. Too much grass clippings, leaves and other dirt gets into the crevices and weeds appear. ROUNDUP or the equivalent. Or one local guy has found a source for 40% vinegar. And that will kill too. Oh, I moved the rock off of one of the beds at the road last year. WORK, and then put down new fabric. Still have weeds coming back.

[Rob Luter]

Sounds like I just need to plant a Fairytale Forest in my yard. Those seem to be low-maintenance. Might be a problem keeping it watered here on the front range...

I would think so. My folks lived just North of you in Parker for a number of years. It was so dry they struggled to get anything to grow. They also had to supplement the soil with organic matter to create a hospitable environment for growing plants. They thought they'd set up a compost pile like we had in Michigan. Nope. Too dry and nothing would rot.

[Terry Wawro]

I will say that 18 years ago we put in rock beds. At the time I used a heavy professional grade weed blocking fabric under the rocks. I get a few weeds but by and large it's still there, doing a great job of keeping the beds fairly weed free.