River Rock Vs Mulch

But remember it doesn t break down and disappear into the soil like bark mulch does.

River rock vs mulch.

Mulch can nearly double how fast trees and plants grow according to this study. So you may actually save money over time. My step brother and i put in the landscaping with rocks instead of mulch last fall and it s been working well for us. Lower cost over time rock mulch is a one time expense.

Benefits of rock mulch. 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. Therefore it ends up a much cheaper option in the long run. Long lasting never needs replaced.

I had seen some river rock flower beds online and thought they looked nice. Landscaping rock commonly referred to as river rock decorative gravel stone mulch or landscaping rock. If sustainability is your top concern consider using river rock on your property. Mulch is the cheapest of the three material options.

You don t need to replace it every year. 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. Rock mulch is more expensive than wood mulch. 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.

This landscaping gravel can be anywhere from the size of a pea up to golf ball size. The cost of mulch versus river rock is significant river rock being up to 3x more expensive than mulch. Not ideal for really wet areas. 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.

Once it is positioned and placed it s perfectly situated for all of time. The rock can help slow down water from eroding parts of the landscape. Harder to spring clean up beds. Read on to learn the pros and cons of mulching with an organic mulch or an inorganic mulch like rocks.

Lesser prevention of weed germination. 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. Mulch also gets displaced easily by heavy rain and it isn t good on steep slopes. It s the most sustainable of the three and is not likely not to be displaced by rain.

Pros and cons of organic mulch pros. Unlike mulch you never have to replace river rock. At about three to six times the cost of organic mulches such as cypress pine bark or. River rock is considerably more expensive than organic mulches such as shredded bark wood chips or compost.

Rock is more expensive than bark mulch.