We are new home owners and haven' the slightest idea about landscapin

There are pros and cons to both, and we have both in our yard. We have mulch under our trees so when the foliage falls off we don't have to clean it up. The down side of mulch is that it will disintegrate over time and need to be replaced. Rocks are great and there is no real replacement with those. If you do get falling foliage it's generally a good idea to clean that up so it doesn't make a mess out of your rocks. It is a good idea to put the fabric down especially over rocks as they are more permanent, and it's to help stop the weeds from growing. We didn't put fabric under our mulch.

Mulch holds moisture better than stones, especially in direct sun..I use both, I don't use mulch around foundation of my house due to possible termite problems; they need moist ground, so its stone around there. Other than that reason, it's what you like that works best. its a little easier to keep weeds out of gravel bed than mulch bed, but not insurmountabl, -how much time do you want to spend weeding & touching up. I also have grandkids, so mulch in the areas they play help resist the idea of picking up or kicking the gravel around or throwing it. Your mower won't really like odd stones in the yard either..

DO NOT USE LANDSCAPING CLOTH EVER.. weeds WILL eventually grow thru it and they become really tough to kill, and you WILL be sorry...and when you decide to change something around, the cloth is very, very difficult to remove.

.drive thu neighbor hoods and see what looks good in your area. Then modify for your needs & choice, don't try to reinvent the wheel, just modify to what looks good to you.

i like a row of gravel under my fence, looks real neat & clean, but the weed wacker will grab a stone and send it flying, dangerous to people, not window or siding friendly, could aggravate a neighbor if it's their body or window.

Thanks for the great responses! They are awesome !

We just put in black rubber mulch in all of our planting beds this year. It's a bit more pricy but it doesn't have to be topped with new mulch and the color is guaranteed for 10 years. Yes, put down some kind of weed barrier. Whether it be fabric, choose the at least 15 year type or you can always go cheap and put down layers of newspaper. Pay no attention to the person behind the curtain who is telling you NOT to use a weed barrier. They obviously used the cheap stuff. If you're going to do it, do it right and you won't have to do it until 15 to 20 years later. May cost a little more in the beginning but it pays for itself later on.