When spring rolls around, many homeowners are busy preparing their gardens for planting. They’re spreading organic mulch or tilling the soil. Meanwhile, those who have created a DIY flower garden with rock mulch are already buying their flower seeds and getting ready to plant. Here’s why you should consider rock mulch for your DIY garden.
They Look Nice
Obviously, you wouldn’t want to create a garden that isn’t aesthetically pleasing, but you might have trouble visualizing just how amazing a flower garden with rock mulch looks. First, the color of the stone you use can make a stunning contrast with the multicolored flowers in your garden. For instance, a light gray rock mulch will make your bright red, yellow, orange, and purple flowers pop.
Second, using rock to create a barrier around your garden keeps your soil in place and prevents it from eroding too quickly. Keep in mind that depending on the weight of the rocks you choose, they can sink into the ground, so you will need to keep an eye on any that you’re using as edging. This will ensure your flowers have plenty of soil in which to grow.
They Are Low Maintenance
Unless you really enjoy gardening, you probably want to spend more time enjoying your garden than maintaining it. Once you get your rocks set in place, you can basically forget about them. They don’t require much upkeep and animals, pests, weather, and foot traffic won’t bother them. Moreover, even though rock mulch won’t keep out all weeds, you will notice that there are significantly fewer weeds to pull.
The only real maintenance you’ll have with rock mulch is to blow away leaves and debris when they accumulate between the rocks, which usually happens in the fall and winter. A good spring cleaning will be all that’s necessary to get your garden ready next year. You might also need to fertilize your flowers more often since rocks don’t provide as many nutrients as organic mulch does.
Steps for Making a DIY Flower Garden With Rock
Even preparing your flower garden for rock mulch doesn’t take much work. Start by removing all the old plants and leftover mulch in your garden. Put down landscape fabric in the area where you want your garden to be. Be sure to secure it with a nail every 12 inches or so. Purchase your bulbs or seeds (they should be perennials) and lay them out on the fabric where you want them to go. Once you have your layout, cut holes in the fabric and plant your flowers. Cover the rest of the fabric with your choice of rock and wait for your flowers to bloom.
Conclusion
Creating a flower garden that rocks is really that simple! You still need to water your garden and make sure it gets plenty of fertilizer, but in no time at all, you’ll have a gorgeous flower garden with a stunningly unique rock mulch. It will certainly be the talk of your neighborhood and who knows? You might even start a landscaping trend.