When installing rock instead of grass do I need weed protection cover

I'd use weed barrier of some sort over dirt no matter what's going on top. Unless of course it's going to be cement on top, lol.

Hi Richard I would definitely put down weed fabric beneath your rock. You could also considering salting the ground first before the fabric to really help.

I would recommend it, or else those blades of grass will grow up between the rocks

Weeds will grow anywhere, under almost any circumstance. Even the weed barrier fabric will give way to a weed or weeds eventually. You can just spot spray any that show up and save yourself the cost of the weed barrier.

use professional landscape fabric, the lightweight plastic overtime disintegrates

If you enjoy trimmimg around and sometimes under the edge of the rock, then don’t worry about weed block. Even after a few years my weedblock broke down in my rock garden and we had to spray.

Definitely !! When my mom lived in San Diego... she had a WHITE rock front yard.... she just put down plastic garbage bags and then spread the rock.... the weeks were a nightmare after every rain.... spray with weed killer and you have dirty looking brown lump in the rocks.... the rocks poke hole in plastic... and eventually it succumbs to sun and weather... it will be MUCH easier to put down a good quality weed barrier fabric the first time.

I wish I had salted the earth for my back stone patio. Put weed barrier down on top of tamped scree and it still pops up little seedlings, in the broken concrete between the slate, which I have to weed. And now, the racoons have taken to digging up and flipping the smaller stones! Something tasty must have moved in over the last ten years since we first laid the patio.

We use 6mil black plastic. I have found that weeds do come up through the weed barrier.