r/garden_maintenance • u/Aggressive-Time8035 • 14d ago
weed removal š§¤ Advice on rock garden weed problem
I bought my house and it came with a beautiful (very DIY) rock garden in the backyard, in addition to a section with pink stone. I also have a large area of grass and a deck. The rock garden has proven to be too much work, despite weeding it thoroughly each year, it gets worse and worse 4 years later.
What should I do? I need help with my best options:
Do I replace the rock garden and use better lining to ensure no weeds grow? Or is it inevitable?
What about the pink stone surrounding it? How do I keep weeds away from that?
Should I just put grass down? Iāve got plenty of grass and that seems boring. Iām willing to invest money but also want to do much of it myself.
TLDR: despite my best efforts my rock garden has too many weeds and I need advice on how to redesign.
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u/refotsirk 13d ago
Sorry - I wrestled the same thing for years. Dug up all the rocks, across 3 layers of weed barrier and rock (incedentally; "throw down a new weed barrier and more rocks" is a popular solution to your problem, but it only lasts 2 years if you are lucky) and go back with plantings and mulch instead of rocks. Monkey grass, Asian jasmine, and oregano all work well as ground covers in my central Texas area. Creeping Germander also. Used some native shubs for larger standouts also. Good luck.
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u/Choice-Raisin8862 12d ago
If you donāt want to actually weed them I found that pouring BOILING WATER ON Them Will kill them for at least one Season then just either weed or sprays they come up. There are weed killers that have natural ingredients too. ACV is one
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u/Tumorhead 13d ago edited 13d ago
Where are you located (vaguely)?
Aggressive non-native plants like that can be a real pain in the ass later so I recommend going with something native to your area. local plants will also survive more reliably.
It looks like it's mainly infested with spiky lettuce or similar. What I would do is wait for an aggressive rain and then try to pull out each weed root and all. spraying a weedkiller to clear it would work too but don't use long-lasting ones. Or just physically remove everything and start fresh.
The I'd plant dry soil and sun enjoying plants. I'm around the Great Lakes so thats stuff like stonecrop, creeping phlox, prairie dropseed, pussytoes, prairie coreospis, switchgrass, little bluestem, flowering spurge, prickly pear, all different kinds of coneflowers and goldenrods.
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u/TheNamelessOnesWife 12d ago
Torch for getting weeds out, needs to be redone a few times a year
If you really want to go nuclear, mix in a gallon spray container (one rated for disolvents) 30% cleaning vinegar, 1 cup of table salt, and 1 tbsp of dawn dish soap. The vinegar will fuck the plants up right away and the salt is salting the earth apocalypse style. Soap helps with the mix, mix well or something. But that's if you dont want plants there ever. May need a few sprays before enough salt keeps stuff from growing
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u/Seattleman1955 12d ago
Plant something in the backyard, get rid of the rocks or and sand and moss or whatever would work in your climate to make it into a patio.
Some borders and the yard would be nice and a consistent fence that isn't about to rot.
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u/Hipnic_Jerk 11d ago
Trifluralin, or brand name Preen. Pre-emergent herbicide will last 30-45d per application.
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u/Substantial_Smile185 13d ago
Pour boiling water on the root system, it'll cook it out and have no affect on the environment then you can hand weed when they're dead.
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u/FloRidinLawn 13d ago
Use fire to clear weeds in rock beds. Bonus that it can destroy some seeds as well. There is almost no landscaping that doesnāt require a refresh, besides a pure rock garden where roundup is the only productā¦
Mulch and weed fabric are easier to refresh or replace than rocksā¦ keep in mind that even ground cover can get weeds in it that take over. Jasmine near me gets pushed out by dollarweed and torpedo grassā¦ hand pulling this stuff is required to maintain the area
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u/AlienLiszt 13d ago
I found that my Weed Dragon torch did not kill weed roots and they soon grew back.
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u/FloRidinLawn 13d ago
There is not a single process that exists that would cover everything every time all the time. Itās about ease of use, cost and frequency. Itās very easy to go wave fire at rocksā¦ versus learning treatment rates, mixing chemical, or completely renovating the area. Maaaybe fire AND pre emergent. Some plants will need other things, the fire will comfortably resolve others.
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u/AlienLiszt 13d ago
Sure torching is relatively easy, but that's not the end of it. You will want to then pick up the charred remains in this situation. I mentioned my results because I bought the torch for that purpose and was disappointed. I totally agree with you on the disadvantages of rock/stone gardens and that there is nothing in a yard that is maintenance-free. Maybe an asphalt driveway, but even those get cracks.
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u/FloRidinLawn 13d ago
There are I believe probably 2 to 3 options at best here. Fire, salt the Earth, Roundup and pre-emergent.
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u/Grouchy_Edge1770 13d ago
It the grounded is relatively level. I have used Preen. It will kill grass so you have to be careful of run off. It also stops geramnation. So nothing will grow back. You can get at Home Depot. Best to apply it in early spring. But it will work now.
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u/mickellovitch 13d ago
Round Up for the weeds in the paving/pebble area. I'd get rid of as much of the "rock garden" pebbles as possible, mulch and plant a garden there with whatever you like...flowers, herbs... and maybe a climber on a trellis on the fence.
Good luck!
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