Anybody here xeriscape?

[Chacoguy]

Does anyone know about Xeriscaping?

Or weed barriers, or moving rocks?

I'm about to order 40,000 lbs of rock, that I will move, by hand, into place.

Is there an easier way, to have a maintenance free yard?

[Falcon]

I hate landscaping rock with a passion. Weeds eventually make it through those barriers, and then you have a complete mess on your hands. Lots of rocks with weeds growing up through them, and then what do you do? Well, you could start spraying lots of chemicals, I suppose.

The former owner of my house used landscaping rock in places, and I'm trying to get rid of it. Not easy, as it also works its way down into the soil. As near as I can tell, once you've put it down, you're pretty much screwed.

I've had better luck using native plants. They're not maintenance-free in the sense that some weeds do make their way into the plots. But it's pretty minimal. And I never water.

Of course, you're in a completely different type of habitat than I am, so YMMV dramatically. But I'd check around for options before plonking down a bunch of rock.

[Jaglavak]

Originally Posted by Chacoguy

Is there an easier way, to have a maintenance free yard?

Shotcrete, baybee!


We have a front yard of well tamped crushed rock that has been neglected for a decade or so. Sure enough, it has weeds growing through. We can't grow a decent lawn and we can't kill that many weeds without chemicals. So therefore we are going get a dozer in here to scalp the whole yard down a foot or so and go back in with clean topsoil. After that, in our area all you have to do is step back before the grass pops up and hits you in the eye.

But in Utah I'm pretty sure rock is the dominant native flora. I've seen a lot of very nice yards down that way done in gravel, shrubs, and cactii. True, gravel is not an absolute weed barrier, but a well tamped 4 to 6 inch layer does slow them down enough to make the weeding easy.

So I guess I have no recommendation either way, just be realistic about what to expect. And BTW, amongst the rocknescenti it's traditional to do your bragging in cubic yards.

[Caprese]

I've seen very successful landscaping rock in Colorado; but it was not only rock, it was also native plants.
We also put in a flagstone patio. We tucked a bit of thyme in here and there and it did quite well.
We did not do this overnight.
We began slowly taking our lawn out, bit by bit, and other neighbors, seeing our success, began following suit. A couple of them surpassed us.

Our current home in north Florida is all native vegetation in front and on the sides.
(Out back I have a little herb garden, any fruits and veggies are grown in pots on the front porch.)

[Turing Complete]

Weed barriers suck.

I believe the best weed control is 4-6 inches of rock, gravel, bark or shredded wood. Don't skimp! You'll still have to maintain it though.

The best way to move rocks is to hire someone to do it for you.

[Bodhiman]

Personally, I'd prefer to stamp concrete. It's lower maintenance, comes in a variety of patters, colors and textures. All rock eventually discolors or embeds itself in the soil. This way, you have a solid slab, nothing for weeds to grow through and it won't discolor over time.

[Veb]

Yep, weed barriers are a farce. I put down all new weed cloth, fresh mulch, etc. on three beds and all of them were overgrown jungles w/in a few months.

I'm really liking Bodhiman's concrete idea.

[Dread Pirate Jimbo]

Unless you're planning to pave the entire yard, there's really no such thing as no-maintenance. But you can get to low maintenance without too much grief. Putting down lots of rock, as you are planning is a good start. After that, populate the rest of your yard with hardy perennials that will thrive in your region and take over your yard without you having to do much of anything.

You're a bit of a drive to Salt Lake City from Moab, but I'd recommend making the trip and checking out the Red Butte Gardens on the University of Utah campus. It's a very lovely walk through the gardens and full of lots of local plants that can give you some ideas on what might thrive in your yard.

Among the plants we've had great success planting, that would probably do well down there as well, are the many varieties of thyme and sedum (aka stonecrop), which are tough as nails and nearly impossible to kill. Also, aggressively seeding areas with clover will give you lots of green to look at which is walkable like grass and very hardy. You might also try some columbine, juniper, blanket flower, many rose varieties, and for trees, you can hardly go wrong with pine or spruce. Yes, there will still be some weeding to do once or twice a year, but you most likely won't have to do much watering and once everything is well established, it should help to choke out anything you don't want around.

[Bodhiman]

A family in my home town DID pave their entire yard.


Then painted the concrete green.

[Zombies!]

I have been tempted on more than one occasion to replace my entire lawn with Astroturf. If I didn't have the dog digging and shitting out there, it'd be even more tempting.

[Jaglavak]

That's not very green.

[Sybarite]

Originally Posted by Dread Pirate Jimbo

Unless you're planning to pave the entire yard, there's really no such thing as no-maintenance. But you can get to low maintenance without too much grief. Putting down lots of rock, as you are planning is a good start. After that, populate the rest of your yard with hardy perennials that will thrive in your region and take over your yard without you having to do much of anything.

You're a bit of a drive to Salt Lake City from Moab, but I'd recommend making the trip and checking out the Red Butte Gardens on the University of Utah campus. It's a very lovely walk through the gardens and full of lots of local plants that can give you some ideas on what might thrive in your yard.

Among the plants we've had great success planting, that would probably do well down there as well, are the many varieties of thyme and sedum (aka stonecrop), which are tough as nails and nearly impossible to kill. Also, aggressively seeding areas with clover will give you lots of green to look at which is walkable like grass and very hardy. You might also try some columbine, juniper, blanket flower, many rose varieties, and for trees, you can hardly go wrong with pine or spruce. Yes, there will still be some weeding to do once or twice a year, but you most likely won't have to do much watering and once everything is well established, it should help to choke out anything you don't want around.

You have learned well, young Padawan.

You can also go look at any local gas station and see what they have growing there - people don't put a lot of effort into gas station greenery, so what they've got is likely to be virtually maintenance free for your yard. I'm a plant lover, so I don't really like the idea of all rock and no plants; I'm a firm believer in local plants in the right place (although in desert-like conditions, maybe more rock and fewer plants). Rock, pavers or pavement in your hottest, driest areas is a good idea. I mean, your yard's hottest, driest areas.

[Jaglavak]

Another unique local look is green glassified topsoil from a thermonuclear flash. You might have to get a permit for that.