Landscaping With Rock Instead of Mulch

2 Materials
$200
2 Days
Easy
I love the look of fresh mulch but as you know, mulch doesn't look fresh forever. Instead of spending money each year by adding new mulch, we decided to landscape with rock. In the long run, the cost savings are substantial. This is a perfect weekend project to try!
With rock around the patio, we are still able to use our leaf blower to clean. The ease of having it is a no brainer!
After loads of fresh mulch, our patio looked great. This is it right after the mulch loads. BUT, a few months later it did not look like this. With all the trees we have on our property, we are constantly blowing our patio off. The mulch gets blown with it. So, we decided to save money in the long run and install rock.
To prep, we ripped out the plants and raked the mulch out. The plants were half-dead so getting rid of them was not a big deal. Then, we put down this (aff.) to block the weeds. It was easy to install. We rolled it and and used clips and rocks to keep it in place.
I cut holes where I wanted my plants to go and dug in to plant them. Then, we hauled in lots of river rock. The patio is pretty large and in hindsight, I should have got a truckload of river rock instead of bags. BUT, I underestimated what I would need. I ended up using about 20 bags which came to $175.
AFTER: While I don't love the after as much as fresh mulch, I do love the ease of keeping it fresh and nice looking. We've had the rock for about six months now and we love it.


Do you love Patio Projects? If so, you might love how we updated an old, worn-out umbrella!. It was simple and it totally prolonged the life of it.
Suggested materials:
  • Rock
  • Plants
Ashley@Biggerthanthethreeofus
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
  1 question
  • Tami Chrisman Tami Chrisman on Aug 08, 2017

    Is your rock just oversized gravel? I'm trying to find oversized colored river rock in large quanity. Does anyone have suggestions? I've already checked all my local area gravel and stone pits.

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5 of 15 comments
  • Wanda Wanda on Jul 22, 2017

    I love the the look of river rock when there wet. Great job.

  • DDe29219130 DDe29219130 on Aug 24, 2017

    My wife and I are doing some landscaping in our backyard as well and were thinking of using rock around our patio. I like that you cut holes in the fabric for where the plants are going to go. We'll have to remember to do this before we lay the rock. Thanks for sharing! http://hartfordsand.com/products.html ;

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    • Fet34531393 Fet34531393 on Sep 26, 2021

      The thing about rubber mulch it will never break down in the dump.

      Just like all the other plastic we are using. They don't even put tires in the same place as other garbage.

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