What looks Better, River Rock or Mulch?

Question

We have a new Limestone Rock Border Around our Rose Bushes and The rose bushes are already on a 1 foot raised rock wall. We need to fill in the cracks between the new limestone border and i was pondering what might look better, River rock(free from river, except u pay for it when hauling it up the hill) or red mulch, maybe cedar mulch. thanks

This is like a 50-foot long row of roses along our drive way with a variety of roses , yellow, red, white, whatever those mini-roses are called, i cant think of the name now... but they are all good size plants.. If i am going to do bark, then ill probably just chop down a couple trees which i am already planning to do and use their bark... the types of trees im chopping down are locust(the ones with giant needles) and Elm(not sure exactly which type of elm). Tell me if these are good barks to use please. Thanks for your help and i believe the second answerer is just about full of it up to his eyebrows because our roses are beautiful and no one has ever said otherwise. Lol. some ppl...

Answer 1

What looks best? That's a personal choice. What I think looks best may not be what you think looks best.

What is the best for the roses? River rock will not suppress weeds. It also will absorb heat in the summer & radiate a significant amount of that heat into your roses' root zone.

Red mulch is shreaded wood dyed red. Wood has a very high carbon to nitrogen ratio (c:n ratio greater than 200). As bateria breakdown the wood fibers, they will deplete nitrogen from your soil and stress your roses.

Bark mulch will do a better job of weed suppression, moderate soil temperatures, moderate moisture levels, and add nutrients/humus to the soil as it breaks down. My choice would be for the bark mulch.

Answer 2

I'm with Awell D 'pebble' type mulches radiate heat and knock plants around. Also they are starting to go out of fashion. The chip will give a cool root run to the roses and provide you with a mulch, but I have found roses don't seem to do well in it and because they are grosss feeders requiring heavy manuring each year to look really fantastic its a pain to remove and then replace. I've had the most fantastic roses I have ever had this year, and I'm in a 100 year drought. I lay down a heavy covering of hay after manuring. No weeds and yes it does help with black spot prevention the spore don't come up from the soil due to the covering.

I think Jerry g went to a different landscaping school to me as I don't agree on any of his landscaping thoughts. I have roses (38) running up my driveway in a double row (they look so 'terrible' that people actually stop in my driveway to look at them). I planted a Buxus (Box) hedge 1 ft high in front of them to cover the stems and to give something to look at in winter when they loose their leaves. They also match perfectly with my 'colonial' style house. I water them, fertilize them (once a year) and give them a heavy pruning in spring. I wish some of my other plants were that easy. A good under planting is catmint if you want to bring in some blue with your other colours.

Don't use fresh chip the sap etc may adversely affect your plants. Yes the breakdown of organic matter does use nitrogen, but if you use most rose fertilizers they will compensate for this.

Answer 3

Forget the river rock. Over heats the soil. And dont just use the bark, have the wood chipped and use all of it. Great mulch and returns nutrients to the soil.

Answer 4

Who Landscaped your Home? A pure rose garden is disaster. Mulch will not stop the insects or diseases. It may slow some of them down, however................
Get yourself some low growing marigolds and pansy right now. Place a Cotoneaster (spreading such as Cranberry) at least three foot in front of the roses. Get yourself an ample supply of sprays such as Dormant Oil, Sevin, SafeSoap, and any/all fungicides. You are going to need them.
To have the plant remain healthy you need to remove the flower at the base. Fail to do that you will invite insects and disease. Put the Cotoneaster in, cheap and will fall over the wall suface. Put the principle of too much is too much into play.
Rose gardens grow in greenhouses and not in life. A single, or two or three, in conection are considered a specimen garden. Trying to maintain such a garden is a full-time position. Even then we Fail.

Answer 5

River Rock. Red mulch looks artificial, and cedar looks scraggly if it isn't used in a large area.