The Fridley Farmer : Landscaping Rocks are the Bane of My Existence
I am quite sure that landscaping rocks have a purpose somewhere. Somewhere where there is no water (Arizona!). Somewhere where there is no love (Walmart parking lots!). Somewhere where plants can’t grow (Mars!). Landscaping rocks in a Minnesota yard though don’t have a purpose.
I’m not talking about good looking boulders or stone fences. I’m talking about the pea gravel to baseball sized chunks of pumice, quarts, dirty gravel and other ugly rocks.
See, who wants to look at this? Even if it was spread out along both sides of your driveway it still wouldn’t look good (trust me!).
My wife and I took several back breaking evenings shoveling out these rocks. We then spent another several days shoveling in good dirt. We will be planting strawberries in the good dirt. We had to remove 3 or 4 wheelbarrows full of ugly gray gravel from our backyard last summer as well, and there’s a huge pile of lava rocks under the pine trees at the back of our property that will have to go some day.
So, if you are considering using using rocks in your landscaping, please think at least twice. Minneapolis has great weather for plants. We get enough rain that you don’t even have to water most things. Rocks may seem easy, but it’s a short term gain. Plant some perennials that you won’t have to worry about again. Put down sod. Really, anything other than rocks would be great.
