Rocks and weed barrier at the base of a tree

[LUDELVR]

Hey hey. All you tree and landscaping gurus, need your insight. I have a tree out on my front lawn. It's just a smaller one but we've had mulch in it forever but there's so much grass and so many weeds poking through I want to change it up.

I just dug it up so it's soil now and I was thinking about putting in some 40 mm stone there instead but have read conflicting things online about rocks at the base of a tree. Furthermore, if I do go ahead and put stones there, can I lay down some weed barrier to try and stop the growth of grass and weeds? My biggest fear is that not enough water will get to the roots.

Any help, suggestions or insights would be awesome!

[Darell_n]

It will be fine. Watering should take place past the outer reach of the tree branches anyway.

[ExtraSlow]

The weed barrier and rocks won't slow down the water, and anyway, most trees roots extend well past the drip line.

Anything under a tree, rocks or bark mulch will get full of leaves /needles and debris pretty fast, so it may not look how you want after a year or two.

[Doozer]

My wife just redid one of our vegetation areas with new weed matting, and this shredded rubber compound on top instead of mulch. I can find a picture of the bag if you're interested, but so far we really like it. It's black, made out of shredded old tires (really). Supposedly it doesn't blow away, doesn't float away, and looks great. But the best thing is that it doesn't attract bugs - we had bark before, and that attracted all sorts of bugs, spiders, ants, etc. They're not interested in the rubber, so it's almost like a pseudo-barrier.

[Tik-Tok]

Weed barrier sucks by the way. I've got 4 layers under some crushed basalt gravel around my firepit, and the fucking weeds still poke through. Flimsy little things though, that are easy to pull out, but still, I'm constantly pulling them.

[roopi]

My wife just redid one of our vegetation areas with new weed matting, and this shredded rubber compound on top instead of mulch. I can find a picture of the bag if you're interested, but so far we really like it. It's black, made out of shredded old tires (really). Supposedly it doesn't blow away, doesn't float away, and looks great. But the best thing is that it doesn't attract bugs - we had bark before, and that attracted all sorts of bugs, spiders, ants, etc. They're not interested in the rubber, so it's almost like a pseudo-barrier.

Rubber Mulch and it's available in a few colors:
https://shop.burncolandscape.com/departments/rubber-mulch-%7CPP%7CRUB.html




Weed barrier sucks by the way. I've got 4 layers under some crushed basalt gravel around my firepit, and the fucking weeds still poke through. Flimsy little things though, that are easy to pull out, but still, I'm constantly pulling them.

There are different weights of weed barrier available. I've noticed the Home Depot / Lowes / etc stuff is usually the worst. I went to a landscape company last year and bought some heavier weed barrier and it has no weeds yet compared to the area in my yard with the department store stuff.

[Darell_n]

Weed barrier sucks by the way. I've got 4 layers under some crushed basalt gravel around my firepit, and the fucking weeds still poke through. Flimsy little things though, that are easy to pull out, but still, I'm constantly pulling them.

Landscaping matt is the proper material to use if rocks on going on top. Weed barrier is made to allow water through, landscaping stuff is water resistant and blocks everything. (Looks like black tarp vs black cloth)

[Doozer]

Rubber Mulch and it's available in a few colors:
https://shop.burncolandscape.com/departments/rubber-mulch-%7CPP%7CRUB.html


Yep, that's the stuff, I just didn't want to turn my reply into an ad for them. But so far works well. You can even see lettering and tread patterns in the pieces, it's pretty crazy.

[jacky4566]

The only stuff worth using is Polyester fabric. Feels like house wrap (Tyvek). Kind of a bitch to cut and will wear out sharp knives quickly.

Did professional landscaping for 4 years and this stuff always held after service calls and maintenance.

[roopi]

The only stuff worth using is Polyester fabric. Feels like house wrap (Tyvek). Kind of a bitch to cut and will wear out sharp knives quickly.

Did professional landscaping for 4 years and this stuff always held after service calls and maintenance.

Does that let water through?

[Darell_n]

Does that let water through?

That is what I was describing and it is basically water proof.

[jacky4566]

Does that let water through?


They say it does, but in reality not very much. Which is a good thing because it stops evaporation from the soil.

Watering should be done directly on the plant or with Drip Irrigation System.