Question

So, my husband and I have been “discussing” river rock vs mulch. We currently have mulch. I am camp river rock for the low maintinence but he thinks it will look bad. Can you send me your pictures of landscaping with river rock? Also tell me if you regretted rock over mulch and why. Thanks.  

Answer 1

We love our rock  

Comments

@mail5925 Beautiful! Is that Western Sunrise rock?  

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@heliochrome46282 thanks! Not sure of the name but we got it from the landscape place on Rt 30.  

Answer 2

Kids take river rock everywhere!  

Answer 3

River rock is more permanent while mulch needs to be refreshed every few years. That being said, I find mulch is a superior weed deterrent and looks more natural.  

Answer 4

I like rock better. Mulch gets moldy and carries fungus.  

Answer 5

River rock would he hard to plant in. If you don’t want the rock to sink you need weed mat under it. Then when you want to add plants you have to remove the rock, cut the weed mat, find a place to put the dirt, plant and put everything back. What a pain!  

Answer 6

I'm pro River rock. Its easier clean up. And tends to stay in the area you put it. The wind blows mulch all over. Constantly sweeping walk ways. We currently rent and out patio is pavers w a flower bed and then brick border. The flower beds were all weeds from lack of care. So we killed off all the weeds laid a weed blanket down and put river pebble down. Looks so much cleaner. I'll ask my husband to send me the before and after so I can post pics for you.  

Answer 7

Landscape fabric and rock hands down. With the amount of money spent on mulch every year, plus the fact that it loses color, washes or blows away, gets fungus, I just can't stand it for our house. We're getting ready to add rock. I love it so much better. It's a one time job and then it's done.  

Answer 8

River rock isn’t as low maintenance as you’d think. We had it as our last house for the same reason and EVERYTHING seemed to blow into it. We had a leaf blower but it just didn’t clear it all out like we had envisioned. Lost it’s freshness after the first year, sinks, constantly lugging more and more rock every year. We’re team mulch at our new house and won’t be going back. Hope this helps!  

Answer 9

We had river rock in the perimeter of our backyard. The rock was super pricey (needed a LOT), but I thought it would be nicer than mulch. One of my dogs thought it was fun to carry the rocks in his mouth and leave them all over the yard. ‍♀️ After several years of rock, we now have mulch and I wish we had done mulch earlier.  

Answer 10

I personally don’t like rocks of any kind and prefer mulch.  

Answer 11

River rock!  

Answer 12

Rock, low maintenance!  

Comments

@lastex it looks pretty !  

Answer 13

From a hort perspective. mulch breaks down putting organic material back into the soil. Rock heats up and to avoid weeds you have to put down plastic which impedes drainage. River rock also turns dirty after a bit

Comments

@ran6779 Jorgensen Janiec we had to pull our rock out because of the heat factor and we were loosing plants

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@backsight71012 if the only purpose is decorative and no plantings are involved. rock is fine. But if you have any plantings it will harm them

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@ran6779 Jorgensen Janiec I learned that the hard way !  

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@ran6779 Jorgensen Janiec you don’t have to put plastic down, there is landscape fabric made specifically for this purpose so there is no issue with drainage. We have had merrimac stone for a few years and all of our plantings are totally fine.  

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I've never once had rock get hot enough to kill what's planted in it. ‍♀️

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@barbarossa1 Anne yes but often the fabric rips with the stone. depending on what you get.  

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@caliban depends on what side of the house its on.  

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Lori, on all sides. Never once a burnt plant. Had rock for 7 years in my own homes, 10 at my mom's when I was growing up.  

Answer 14

We had been doing the mulch thing for years now and we were done. Just did rock around the pool and in some other areas so hopefully this is better. Looks nice.  

Answer 15

I have to side with hubby. For appearance, weeds and keeping plants well watered mulch is nice. Its warm and welcoming. All the homes I see with rock look tired after a few years because the rock has separated and needs fixing. Also has that black edging. I like a natural mulch edge. Mowing easier too with mulch.  

Answer 16

River rock.  

Answer 17

We had mulch for years and it was such a pain! We put in merrimac rock a few years back and absolutely love it. Merrimac is similar to river rock but has a bit more color to it. I was nervous about doing it at first, now that we have it I LOVE it! I know a previous commenter said rock was super expensive, I disagree. Also, you don’t have the added expense of remulching every year.  

Comments

@barbarossa1 Anne that looks really nice.  

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@scotia92 Thank you!  

Answer 18

Yeah I could hit the “. ” but this is more fun  

Answer 19

I know someone with a rock river! It looks gorgeous <3 Varied stones and sizes brought out its natural beauty. Low maintenance -- I think it was put in to trim back the amount of lawn care. Older individual.  

Answer 20

For all of you who did Rock , did you have a company dump the rock ? What was your company

Comments

@kaka610 DiLeo Katsigiannis we used Illinois Landscape Supply (Plainfield)

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@kaka610 DiLeo Katsigiannis We used the company on Boughton between Book and Weber.  

Answer 21

We have rock and problems with them hiding in the grass and shooting up during mowing to break a window.  

Answer 22

No regrets! We have rock and it has been amazing! No maintenance and, frankly, I think our plants have done much better!  

Answer 23

I’m dealing with a nightmare right now, because the previous owners “apparently” at one time had river rock. When we bought the house we thought it was mulch because that’s what we could see. They just dumped mulch on top of the rock the quotes I’ve gotten to remove the rock are insane but we also can’t just go to rock because mulch & dirt has now been all mixed in

Comments

@cursive i have same issue  

Answer 24

When we went house hinting in the middle of March the ground was covered with snow, did not realize it was not mulch but river rock. I do not like the river rock. I think the plants don’t get the protection from the winter like they do with mulch. The rock is a pain to plant anything. I would not have purchased the house had I seen the river rock. Mulch Mulch, Mulch

Answer 25

We have all rock. no issues. My plants are huge 5o and all new are always healthy to. i used a mesh like lining

Answer 26

I think rock looks better

Answer 27

We did our front with river rock and I love it all the Suttle colors and no having to mulch every year is so awesome

Answer 28

I even did this out back a few weeks ago with river rock

Comments

And all my Plants come up every year

Answer 29

Spent 3k doing rocks 5 years ago, a lot of rocks! Love it. Mulch to me looks cheap and it has to be replaced every year

Answer 30

I love my river rock ❤️

Answer 31

Rock! You can always leaf blow on it to clean it out, mulch, nope. It's more expensive, but it doesn't disintegrate.  

Answer 32

My front yard is all river rock backyard is rubber mulch. Love them both!  

Answer 33

When you guys say river rock I imagine fist sized ones, is that what you are talking about?  

Answer 34

After 10 years of mulch, we were done. I was against rock at first but now I love it!  

Answer 35

Thanks everyone for the tips! We are still split 50/50 because of all the reasons you shared. I’ll update if we ever make a decision! Thanks again!