Home project: Can anyone answer this? 10 points!

Question

My husband and I bought a house. The previous owners used white rocks (instead of the usual mulch) around the walls of the house. I am currently deployed and all I see is white rocks all day and all night, plus it doesn't look so nice. So we thought mulch would be great. Well we see why they didn't use mulch. When it rained, it all drifted away.

Finally... the question:

What can we use instead of white rocks or mulch for this empty space of dirt now? Are there alternatives other than just add grass there?

Answer 1

Interlock bricks into a subway pattern or herringbone pattern. They have the stability and weight of the rocks.  Just like paving a patio. I'm in the process of doing mine now. Year two! LOL!!

Answer 2

You can put in a landscape border to hold the mulch in.  There are different colored rocks, too.  

Answer 3

Plant ground cover plants, add some stone rock then add mulch around the plants and to the area that you are talking about. Adding the plants and the stone rock to ground will prevent the mulch from washing away when it rains.

Answer 4

Try diverting most of the water away from the mulch, ie with gutters. Then also a border around the mulch. Good luck!

Answer 5

I feel your pain.  There's a house down the road from me that has the entire yard landscaped with white gravel (including the lawn) which burns my retina's every time I drive by.  

A few alternatives/ideas that I've used other than typical double shredded brown mulch:

1.) Pine Straw - Which consist of nothing more than pine needles and comes in bales just like hay.  Although it's lesser available here in the Northern U.S., most states should have a supplier (wholesale).  I've used pine straw on landscaped slopes before and it's held up well for me besides shifting from the occasion deluge.  As an added bonus, pine straw will also help acidify (lower the pH) if you have very basic (high pH) soil!



2.)  Crushed/polished glass (aka speciality glass) (yes, don't laugh) - This is what is sounds like, recycled colored glass (blues, greens, etc.) that is tumbled so it's not too sharp on the edges.  I've used this in Zen-type gardens to add the element of water in the landscape - so this could be used around a planting that could go in your bed.

3.) Plant the bed - Personally, I think you best choice is to plant on top of the beds around the house by first adding 2-6 inches of quality garden soil or compost.  Removing gravel, especially large quantities is nightmarish without the use of a machine (Skid steerer, Back hoe, etc.) so adding soil on top of the gravel and planting plants that prefer good drainage such as most plant in the Sedum genus, may make more sense than my aforementioned ideas.  Erosion control plants or plants that aggressively spread such as Potentilla anserina (Silverweed) may make sense as well.  Unfortunately I can't make accurate plant selections without knowing your location or USDA zone.  Once the plant send out roots they should help stabilize the soil and permit you to use mulch.

I hope these ideas work for you!

Answer 6

I like Che's answer.... it would seem that the previous owners were concerned about bugs or termites if there wasn't a spacer of white rock between the walls of the house and the lawn or flower beds... and that's a good idea in some places.... that's why the pavers sound like the easiest and nifty-est way to do the same thing, but with something that can be just swept off ..... then plant something in front of it or just leave the area plain... you'll prob have to still pick weeds out from between them, but that's not a bad trade-off!!.....

I hope you find fabric under the rocks... makes picking them up a lot easier!!!....  

Answer 7

I don't know what zone the house is in, but you can use 'ground cover' plants, some plants like "ice plants' (which are a type of succulent) spread nicely and get little pretty flowers on them, and you can google other 'wandering' plants that would work in your area.  When I was deployed overseas, on base housing was a lot of white gravel (which would turn a rust color because of all the rain) a lot of people had put plants in to hide the gravel. I had a purple wandering jew plant that worked nicely, it was able to handle a LOT of rain and water!    

Answer 8

If you want to use a mulch, you could put a in ground border around the area you want the mulch in- they have some attractive borders at home improvement stores, that arn't all that expensive.  Around my house I put recycled tire chips...  they look just like cedar chips!  Also at the local home improvement store, or Costco in big bags...

Answer 9

well i filled up my yard and or dirt patches with lawn Nome's every one loves lawn NOME'S. i LIKE LAWN NOME'S. DO YOU LIKE LAWN NOME'S? if you don't i know where you live!!!!!!!!!!!! ( and my uncle twice removed just got out of prison) AND ADD SOME CHICKENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...

Answer 10

What you could do is to make a small retaining wall around the border of the flower bed with rocks that you find anywhere or ones that you order from a supplier.  This would keep the mulch in the flower beds.  There also might be other choices besides just white stone.  For instance nursery I get all my materials from has a nice red granite stone.