My wife and I are in the midst of a pretty massive (at least for us) landscaping project in our yard and we are to the point where I think it's important to get some advice from people who actually know what they are doing. :)
Since we bought this house we have had constant issues with weeds (both large and small), Hostas, and pine bushes coming up out of the dirt/rocks surrounding the house. Instead of continuing to pull/spot treat we said "to heck with it" and tore everything out. Here's what we have done to this point:
- Dug out existing rocks (moved to dumpster)
- Tore out all existing fabric/plastic
- Pulled all weeds
- Dug out large pine bushes and treated roots with non-selective herbicide
Our plan is to fill the holes (this is where my question comes in), apply Preen, apply heavy duty landscape fabric (with staples) and top it off with 2-3" of black trap rock. Our "decorative plan" is to place metal sculptures in the newly laid trap rock instead of any living plants.
I need to know what the best thing to to fill the large holes that remain from removing plants/rocks to keep new plants/weeds/etc from sprouting up again. I know that there will be some maintenance required but I want to use whatever will be best to effectively keep anything from growing in the rock area.
We live in a humid spring/summer climate but we also have extremely cold and potentially wet winters due to heavy snowfall so I know considering drainage is probably important.
Sorry for the long question but I think it is important to provide enough context of what we started with and where we are headed. Thanks for any insight!
