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gambleress

Filling in my flowerbed

gambleress
12 years ago

Please help! My flowerbed wraps my house and has became too much. Even to gardeners later we can't get them to call us back for what we can pay them. Is the a nice, affordable way to fill them in possibly with rock? I would love if no maintenance is required and if a couple shrubs could be put in it would be a bonus, we do have sprinkler.

Comments (5)

  • designshare
    12 years ago

    rock ok.there is a sort evergreen rock.it is made with Perlite.

  • gambleress
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Is there something I put under the rocks to prevent Bermuda and weeds from growing through but will still let water get to a bush.

  • designshare
    12 years ago

    Maybe it work.the green rock only grow some moss.it don't have enough water to grow other plants.mature shrub root is more power,it can prevent Bermuda and weeds.

  • missingtheobvious
    12 years ago

    Is there something I put under the rocks to prevent Bermuda and weeds from growing through but will still let water get to a bush. -- There is permeable landscape cloth, but I suspect Bermuda would grow right through it. In any case, dust and plant debris will fall or blow into the rocks and will provide new soil atop the landscape cloth for the Bermuda and other weeds to grow.

    You can build a solid barrier (concrete; mortared brick or stone) between the lawn and the bed, deep enough to prevent the Bermuda from crossing underground -- but Bermuda will grow from seed, and can throw out a long shoot to cross over the barrier (it's that time of year; I'm pulling Bermuda shoots that are well over a foot long). [The depth necessary for an in-ground barrier would vary depending on your climate zone; for instance here I need to go down 4" to get all the Bermuda roots, but I suspect it would be a lot deeper in warmer climates.]

    One solution, particularly if you have a good-looking foundation, is to remove the bed edging and have grass instead of flowers -- at least around part of the house. You might need to alter the sprinkler system.

  • Frankie_in_zone_7
    12 years ago

    I'm not a fan of "rock mulches".

    Two approaches, not the only ones, but these can be combined, is to figure out which areas might most logically be returned to lawn, as in missingtheobvious's post above, and to redesign some areas to be shrubs with groundcover-type plantings. Groundcover includes typical small green stuff running or clumping stuff, but also can be mass plantings of hostas that tend to block weeds. The best choices for what to do where, in terms of long-term maintenance, depends on sun and moisture conditions, and overhead conditions, e.g. what trees drop what stuff where.

    The lawn suggestion is of course because if you already have lawn, then you're already getting it mowed, and mow & blow is typically cheaper and easier to hire than garden maintenance, plus it's more forgiving (miss a week oe 2, yard looks scruffy, but then fine after mowing). Organic mulches are good to reduce maintenance in shrub beds and "fallow" garden areas, but you have to figure out whether you can hire once or twice yearly bulk mulch-spreading work also and you still have to do some weeding.

    Topics that may interest you include "gardening in your later years" ( I think there is a book by that name); a similar long-ago thread by GW poster luceal, who was making over her garden to be lower maintenance; and of course "low maintenance gardening".

    Even with shrubs and groundcovers you will need to have some background knowledge, or do some research, or hire the right professional, to choose plant material that won't have to be pruned or cut back with any frequency.