On Sep 10, 12:21 am, sf wrote:
On Sun, 9 Sep 2007 19:59:26 -0600, "James Culbertson"





wrote:

"Travis" wrote in message
news:Go1Fi.709$282.290@trnddc01...
James Culbertson wrote:
Hiya,
I have a few beds with bulbs in them and was looking to put pea gravel
down on top. I realize the pea gravel will help keep the weeds down but
will it also prevent the bulbs from sprouting? I'm looking at putting
1-2" down.
Thanks much,
jlc

I doubt that 1 to 2 inches of pea gravel will do anything to keep weeds
down.

Ok. With that in mind then, is it safe to assume the bulbs will push up
through it as well?

I doubt they will push through, weeds usually appear after a year or
two of debris has settled into the cracks and decomposed enough to
provide a foothold for seeds. In any case, flowers surrounded by
gravel isn't very appealing. He needs to think of another ground
cover.
--

History is a vast early warning system
Norman Cousins- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Bulbs will most likely push through. I have MANY flower beds that
were mulched with 3-4 inches of gravel/small stones, and the hundreds
of tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, grape hyacinths, and crocuses planted
in the beds don't seem to have any trouble at all. In fact, a
significant part of my problem in removing the dratted stones is that
I don't want to disturb the bulbs (so can't just remove shovel loads
of dirt and sift it).

By the way, the stones do almost nothing to keep the weeds down. The
weed seeds find their way down to the dirt and the weeds sprout up
just as readily as the bulb flowers do. All the stones do is make
weeding a major pain (like it isn't enough of one already), requiring
every last little weed to be carefully hand plucked. I predict you
will regret mulching the bed with gravel.

Jo Ann