River Rock Vs Mulch

One of the changes we made was to replace all the mulch around the patio with river rocks and possibly all the flower beds with rocks instead of mulch.

River rock vs mulch.

The rock can help slow down water from eroding parts of the landscape. You don t need to replace it every year. The price of rock mulch varies depending on the type and size but generally costs two to three times more than an application of mulch. Mulch is the cheapest of the three material options.

River rock is considerably more expensive than organic mulches such as shredded bark wood chips or compost. It s the most sustainable of the three and is not likely not to be displaced by rain. Lesser prevention of weed germination. Pros and cons of organic mulch pros.

So you may actually save money over time. I had seen some river rock flower beds online and thought they looked nice. Any type of decorative gravel can be used as groundcover including lava rock quartz granite pea gravel and river rock. If sustainability is your top concern consider using river rock on your property.

Not ideal for really wet areas. Benefits of rock mulch. Landscaping rock commonly referred to as river rock decorative gravel stone mulch or landscaping rock. Harder to spring clean up beds.

This landscaping gravel can be anywhere from the size of a pea up to golf ball size. Mulch also gets displaced easily by heavy rain and it isn t good on steep slopes. Unlike mulch you never have to replace river rock. Since there is no replacement requirement river rock might cost more upfront but will not come with reoccurring annual costs.

The cost of mulch versus river rock is significant river rock being up to 3x more expensive than mulch. Long lasting never needs replaced. Mulch can nearly double how fast trees and plants grow according to this study. Once it is positioned and placed it s perfectly situated for all of time.

Lower cost over time rock mulch is a one time expense. My step brother and i put in the landscaping with rocks instead of mulch last fall and it s been working well for us. Mulch which is better in flower beds and around trees. Rock mulch is more expensive than wood mulch.

Read on to learn the pros and cons of mulching with an organic mulch or an inorganic mulch like rocks. It sells for about 4 to 5 per bag at a big box store but keep in mind that bags of rock mulch only contain about 0 5 cubic feet of material four times less than a bag of wood mulch. But remember it doesn t break down and disappear into the soil like bark mulch does. I knew from experience in our past house that flower bed rocks would keep stay much better than mulch so we decided to go for it.

But while the upfront cost difference is apparent it s important to remember that even though mulch is much more affordable initially it will need to be freshened up regularly meaning you ll invest just as much over a few years.