Knowing what to do with your garden space in a desert climate can be tricky.
Traditional, monoculture lawns would require a lot of water to keep looking lush, which isn't ideal in an area that will likely have restrictions on how much you can use your tap at home during dry months.
That's why some turn to rock gardens, providing an attractive alternative that doesn't require a lot of maintenance and can still provide a habitat for insects and other small creatures.
One Redditor took this approach but soon realized the spiraling costs were unsustainable. That's why they asked the r/landscaping community how best to make their space suitable for some lawn chairs, stepping stones, and maybe a bit of artwork.
"Will wood chips be ok here or do I need to go full on Rockville?" they asked, adding a couple of progress pictures to the post.
While many suggested mulch as a smart option to keep costs down, some keen-eyed gardeners noticed another problem with the set-up: landscaping fabric.
"Landscape fabric turns into a mess of plastic after a few years and leaches microplastics throughout the soil," one user said. "Mulch will be fine without the fabric. Rocks are also fine."
Another Redditor added: "If you use mulch, you should not use landscape fabric because it does not actually block weed growth to any meaningful extent (they grow on top of it, creep in on stolons and rhizomes from the edges, and even grow up through it) and just breaks up into a plastic mess that will be poking through your mulch within a couple years."
Indeed, all these issues mentioned by commenters are important to consider before wasting money on landscaping fabric.
The plastic problem is perhaps the biggest concern. However, if we avoid buying it, garden product companies will soon get the message. They will see that it's not worth selling an item that can damage the planet throughout its life cycle — from the petrochemicals used and burned to create it to the toxins it can leach into healthy soil.
If you want to add a weed barrier, even if just to suppress the pesky plants for a short time, consider laying down cardboard before putting mulch on top. This is a great way to reuse a commonly available material and save money on landscaping costs.
But a rock garden doesn't have to mean just rocks. You could also buy some drought-resistant native plants, such as black-eyed Susans or catmint, to give your outdoor space a pop of color — just be sure to check what's suitable to plant in your area.
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