Salty Thumb wrote:
"Ali" wrote in
:


Oh, aditionally, I *have* encountered gravel and I find any form quite
annoying, though it'd probably be less annoying around something like
a tree. It's just a nusance though if you want to get in to amend the
soil or whatever, because you have to scrape the stuff back, etc. With
mulch, no harm if some of it gets mixed in with the soil, as it breaks
down anyway.

Ali


if you are going to use gravel or any kind of mulch (stone or otherwise),
put down a layer of landscape fabric (or "geotextile") first. It won't
keep all the weeds/grass from coming through, but with the gravel on top,
it should be easy to pick off any that are intent on busting out. with
the fabric in place, it should be easier to remove the gravel in case you
want to amend the soil underneath at a later date. To keep the gravel
from rolling away, make a mini retaining wall or use edging. all this
will probably cost $$$$$.

-- Salty

Salty, have you personally *used* landscape fabric and had the desired
results, or did you just see it on TV? Landscape fabric is from hell.
Tree feeder roots grow up through it. Turfgrass encroaches over the
edges and then sends roots down through it. Weeds will germinate in
whatever covers it, and eventually send roots down through it also
unless you pull them promptly. When you change your mind and decide to
yank out the fabric a year or two later, it will be stuck fast by
several inches of decomposed mulch/grass/weed gunk and a million
infinitesimal feeder roots occupying every individual pore in the
fabric, forcing you to dig it out.

This has been my personal experience, plus the local gardening
columnists and extension agents agree with me, as well as a lot
of people in this newsgroup.

- Alex