5 tips on how to get rid of weeds in rock landscaping | Pepper's house and garden (2023)

When weeds invade your rock formations, control them with an herbicide that will both kill existing weeds and discourage new weeds from growing. If possible, place a layer of landscaping fabric under rocks to discourage weed growth. Installing a border around rocky landscape areas will help prevent invasive weeds and grasses from entering. Finally, you can hand weed naturally or use a weed flame to remove weeds.

5 tricks to get rid of weeds on rocks

Invasive weeds can ruin the look of your stones, and where one weed invades, more are sure to follow. If possible, act quickly to eradicate invasive plants. With a few tricks you can kill the weed growth between your stones and prevent weeds from growing again. Just use these simple methods:

Use a long-lasting herbicide and preventative spray

To kill weeds on rocks, use a strong weed spray that kills the weeds at the rootpermanentand prevents the growth of new weeds. Since plants are unlikely to grow through the rocks in your landscape, this is a great application for long-term herbicides.

• use thisherbicidesthat fights all types of weeds and grasses and prevents regeneration in the treated area for up to 12 months.
• When applying weed killer sprays, be sure to only treat weeds and invasive grasses.

To avoid overspraying, which can damage desired plants and grasses, apply herbicides on a windless day. If necessary, protect desired plants with cardboard when spraying weeds.

Lay out landscape fabric

A layer of waterproof landscape fabric under rocks creates a natural barrier that discourages weed growth. If planning a new rock installation, lay landscape fabric over the floor. If your stones are currently infested with weeds, move them to the side and lay out a landscape fabric before returning the stones to their original position. It's also a good idea to install one of theseTypes of landscape rocks.

• TheLandscape fabriccan prevent weeds from growing under stones.
• Lay out landscape fabric before installing stones in a new area.
• If there are already stones, pull them aside, lay out the landscape fabric, and then return the stones to their previous location.
• Use waterproof landscaping fabric to create a weed barrier. Impermeable materials like plastic can trap water. This causes flooding and attracts pests.

Do not replace plastic scenery fabric. Plastic prevents air and water from getting into the ground. This causes water to collect between your stones, which can provide a breeding ground for mosquitoes and other insects.

Install a border

A landscape boundary around rocky areas can help prevent invasive weeds and grass roots from entering rocky areas. In some cases, the weeds you see growing on your stones are sprouts from roots or stolons. A landscape border acts as a natural weed barrier, reducing the number of weeds between the rocks.

• Install a solid landscape border around rocky areas. Metal or wood are good choices.
• A solid border prevents weeds and grass from entering your stones.
• A border will help contain small rocks or gravel. This prevents the rock layer from thinning at the edges and maintains a deep, weed-resistant surface.

Often, weed invasion begins at the edges of rocky areas where the rock or gravel has become scattered and thin. Weeds and grasses have a much easier time entering these thin areas. A solid border around your checkers keeps them in check. This keeps the bedrock from spreading and thinning and maintains a deep layer of rock that resists weeds.

Pull by hand

The best way to kill weeds at the root without using herbicides is by hand. It may seem like hard work, but no home remedy is as effective as hand weeding. If you use the rightweed tool, the work can be much easier.

• Remove weeds by the roots to kill them completely.
• Eliminate weeds immediately to prevent seeds from falling after uprooting.

If you pull weeds, bag and discard them immediately. Weeds left on the surface may try to take root or fall overweed seeds. Because weed seeds can survive composting, it's best to treat any uprooted weeds as trash.

flame weeding

Flame weeding is a great solution for killing stubborn weeds in landscape rocks. Since few desirable plants typically grow near your rocks, you can use the superheated air produced by a fire extinguisher to kill weeds without putting other plants at much risk.

• Flame herbicides kill weeds without the use of herbicides.
• Touse a flamethrowerRun the flame 7.5-15 cm (3-6 inches) above the weeds. Superheated air kills weeds in a tenth of a second. It will wilt in a few hours and be totally dead in a few days.
• Do not set fire to weeds or touch them directly with the flame. This is both unnecessary and dangerous.

Always check conditions before using a weed burner. Although the proper use of a flame weed killer will not set weeds on fire, accidents can occur. Do not use flame herbicides in drought conditions or in areas prone to bushfires.

Methods to avoid when killing weeds in a rocky landscape

Several popular “natural” methods are advertised as stone weed killing solutions. Some of these methods are ineffective, while others may be more dangerous to your garden than herbicides. Be careful with the following herbicides.

• Salt: Salt poisons the soil and can prevent the plant from regenerating for months or years. In addition, salt is easily transported through the soil with water. If you apply salt to a rocky area to suppress weeds, there is a very good chance that runoff water will carry the salt to the surrounding plants and grasses, killing them. Long-acting herbicides are meant to bind to the soil to prevent that runoff from killing it. Salt can cause more problems than an herbicide.
• Vinegar: Herbicides that contain white wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or even high-potency garden vinegar are not effective at killing weeds and grass. However, vinegar only kills the aerial part of the plantit does not attack the roots. In most cases, the weeds will grow back a few weeks after applying the vinegar.
• Boiling water: Similar to vinegar, boiling water only affects the aerial part of the weed. The soil absorbs water for several minutes, preventing it from penetrating the roots while it is still warm. You can kill small, immature weeds with this method, but tough grass and dandelions will recover quickly.

If you are using a weed control method in your rocky landscape, you want a solution that will last and not cause accidental damage to nearby plants. Be careful with homemade weed killers - vinegar and boiling water are much less effective than hand weeding.

Should You Put Garden Textiles Under Stones to Stop Weeds?

If you're planning to install stone in a new area, it's a good idea to lay landscaping material first. The landscape fabric forms a natural barrier that smothers any weed seeds about to germinate. The weeds cannot penetrate the fabric and die. Additionally, weed seeds or runners that invade your rocks cannot reach the soil to take root.

• If possible, place landscape fabric under landscape stones.
• It acts as a natural barrier that smothers weed plants.
• It prevents weed seeds blown into a rocky area from reaching the ground and germinating.

In many cases, a simple installation of landscape fabric is enough to keep your landscaping weed-free. This is a great long-term weed solution.

How do you stop weeds from growing on rocks?

When weeds have overgrown a rocky or rocky landscape area, the best methods to get rid of the weeds and prevent their reappearance are as follows:

• Spray the weeds with a high potency herbicide that will prevent the weeds from regrowing for the next 12 months.
• Lay a layer of scenery fabric under the rocks.
• Create a solid border around your rocks to keep them in check and prevent invasive weed roots.
• Remove weeds by hand to kill them at the root without herbicides.
• Use a flamethrower to safely kill weeds in a tenth of a second.

These methods allow you to kill and suppress weeds with or without the use of herbicides. Most importantly, they are effective. "Homemade" white vinegar weed killers won't kill weeds at the root, so it's best to use permanent solutions.