Tips for Maintaining Stone Mulching
1. Using landscape fabric
Landscape fabric is a water-permeable material. The most common kind is made of woven polypropylene, a tough, weed proof, non-rotting sheet that allows rain water to seep through. Landscape fabric is excellent for preventing weed growth in areas where you plant more permanent foliage. Problems do arise in areas where you tend to switch plants often. Since planting requires making crosswise slits in the fabric, the more cuts you must make the less effective the sheet will be and the higher the possibility of weeds seeping through.
2. Maintaining stone mulching without landscape fabric
When planting in areas with stone mulching and no protective fabric, scrape all stone carefully away before digging a hole. Remember to remove any surplus soil before replacing the stone. Any soil that is left on the surface after planting will wash through with the next rain. Every few years, you may need to top your stone mulching off to keep it looking fresh.
The key to preventing weeds when you are unable to use a protective fabric is upkeep. If you catch seedlings when they are young, you should need only to move the stone around with you fingers, and the problem will most likely go away. Waiting, however, will only cause more labor on your part in the long run, giving the roots a chance to take hold, and perhaps cause the same plants to reoccur even after they have been pulled.
3. Removing stone mulching
If you are tired of your stone mulching, or perhaps want to move it to another area of your garden, simply scoop up what you can. It is not necessary to scoop away every last stone. What is left will incorporate itself into the soil, and will improve drainage in the area.
SOURCE: Colborn, Nigel. The Garden Floor. Trafalgar Square Publishing, 2000. |
