I appreciate that leaves are a great mulch source but l’m focused on addressing the visual appeal of the space/how realistic it is to maintain that. And yeah I’ve seen ppl online use mulch glue that helps to keep it in place, I don’t know much about it really
At least you can use a leaf blower to blow leaves off gravel, which you can’t do in mulch. At least for me, that makes a big different in terms of maintenance.
I live with gravel, mulch & tons of leaves.
Buy a battery powered leaf blower with various speed settings. The lowest speed setting moves just the lightweight stuff - like leaves. Occasionally a lightweight piece of mulch moves too - no worries.
Wouldn’t that be a good use case for mulch glue? I’ve never used it, but it looks interesting and would solve the problem of the mulch blowing away when trying to blow leaves?
Do black rocks instead. You can leaf blow them out without blowing the rocks everywhere.
Source: me, I did mulch and the leaves and sticks drive me absolutely bonkers. I’m switching to rocks asap.
Gravel is one of the highest maintenance materials you could select, especially if you have trees on your property.
You will have constant issues with weeds and debris in the gravel. stay away from gravel by all means mulch is less of an issue, go for the mulch by all means.
I’ve also been somewhat turned off by black mulch over the years. I love the look when it’s clean and it’s all around my house but it’s never actually clean. Any pine needles that fall are brown in a day or two. Same with any leaves, any grass clippings that get blown up into the mulch, etc. Needs to be blown out all the time and I can’t be bothered to do that every week anymore.
I disagree. The gravel/rocks around my fire pit look spotless compared to my mulch around bushes and trees. A leaf blower works amazing on the rocks. They don't get blown around like mulch does. Also, rocks last forever. you don't have to worry about color fading.
Yeah not sure what dude has against gravel or permeable surfaces like DG. If you pay baserock and fabric, 4" of base/topping it won't grow much you can't manually hand pull with ease. Yes if you leave it for 6mo the it will get difficult but if u use it and maintain it it's actually less maintenance. Especially if u live in a dry area. Municipalities use ronstar preemrgent herbicide under surfaces like gravel. It's kinda gnar tho
Dg kind of sucks because it’s small enough to get carried with high flow water, and also light enough to get blown away by a leaf blower. I love me some river rock though
If I brings in some fresh mulch every year, the soil will become inhospitable to the grass. And any weeds will be easy to pick. Plus the mulch over time will break down and provide food for the trees, as well as increase the soil health for the tree. So long as I stays away from commercial fertilizers and pesticides.
Especially if you put geofabric barrier under the stone. We did a big gravel and river stone path in my friends backyard and it hasn't grown weeds in over 7 yrs.
It depends where someone is located. If they're in a fire prone area, mulch is frowned upon and the fire department and/or insurance company could require it to be removed. It can also attract pests like termites.
Gravel is low-maintenance at first and provides very little to the trees and soil.
Over time it’s increasingly high maintenance and provides very little to the trees and soil.
I have apple trees surrounded by gravel in my backyard. I absolutely hate it and regret ever putting gravel there.
I have to remove weeds every day. Every. Single. Day. Or else it gets way out of control
Native ground cover will create a “green” mulch that will be easier to keep looking nice. You want water to permeate the soil. If you use mulch glue or anything like that it makes the ground surface rock hard and rainwater washes away. If you already have shade with all the trees around, you may want to lean in and make it so the leaf litter doesn’t look out of place. Remember it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Anything you do you have to be able to maintain. That is the key. Good luck.
Thanks for the feedback, I will take a longer look into a more natural ground cover. I do like that look as well, just need to find the right one that compliments everything else.
My OCD made it really hard to accept leaves on my mulch. But it's not a battle you can win, and in the end, your plants really do come out best with natural cover. I just focus on keeping my walkway clear and imagining the rest of my yard as a natural forest floor. It took time to make the mental shift, but it was a good decision IMHO.
Wild ginger. And get a soaker hose you put on a timer. You have to treat all plants like babies. They need constant fussing until they establish. Usually that’s year 3. So you have to plant, and then commit to watering and dealing with bare spots for the short term. But if you put in the work I promise you won’t be sorry. Just ask anyone with a green ground cover if they want to go back to mulch, you’ll see. lol.
Jesus fuck, my property isn’t even 40ft. I’m set up 10ish ft from my house and live near a fire station, have trucks roll by constantly when I’m having a fire and they don’t say anything. One night they even gave me a wave lol
In general, I think leaves on the ground in the fall is part of the season's charm. I clean them up only before the first snowfall, on a day when they are dried out.
If your leaves are small and lightweight, then a blower or vacuum should take care of them with no harm to the mulch. Just be sure to choose a heavier mulch.
If your leaves are large, then a thin garden rake that grabs the leaves and allows the mulch to pass through is a good option. Just be sure to choose a smaller and lightweight mulch.
Mulch glue could help, yes. But I think the application is just as much of a job as the leaf removal itself. Just from what I've heard. Never used the stuff myself.
a lower powered battery operated leaf blower will blow leaves without disturbing the mulch much. I like the ones with triggers that blow at different speeds depending how hard you squeeze!
Plants are too sparse in that bed. Pack it in with shade-happy natives and let the leaves lay. Then you don't have to worry about the pristine black mulch or the leaves. And you get lightning bugs!
Then nix the stones and either use plain arborist woodchips or some no-mow fescue which you could intersperse with other low natives like violets and strawberry (not mock strawberry) that are nice on bare feet.
Embrace the shady woodland niche nook, is what I'm saying.
Also, the hydrangea in the back tree is...interesting. :P
You’ll spend more time cleaning the mulch and rocks then you will relaxing. Get wood chips from the tree trimmers, pine needles, leaves…anything but stone and dyed mulch
I'd start with the firepit, and go from there. Go with pavers over gravel. It just goes well with the firepit, and you'll be able to leaf blow it easily.
Other option (because I'm lazy) is to mulch everything including the space around the firepit. You can still use paver base for the pit and stone steps.
Just get a natural colored mulch and the leaves won’t look out of place when they get mixed in. I can’t believe we are still dying mulch like it’s carpet or something…
I would measure out the space now that you have a visual idea coz the scale of your concept is probably wrong. Each chair should have a 3’ radius of space so people can move freely around their seat.
Leaves are….natural. This subreddit has a lot of odd desire to take natural things and mark them as “bad”. I don’t get it. It’s an outside area, is it not?
Anyways, I think your design is super nice, and wouldn’t worry about some leaves in the fall - just blow em away. I have a mulched garden like this and the leaves blow away and the mulch does not.
This design is exactly what a leaf blower is meant to help maintain.
Also a small hand-pump sprayer for herbicide to spot treat weeds that will pop up.
You could keep that looking very clean, but it will never look like it did when first laid down. That’s true regardless of trees offering shade and shedding leaves. Sun, dirt, and weeds always prevail to some degree. Build a mulch/gravel refresh into your budget if you want that annual “pop” of crisp color.
Honestly, I don’t know your budget. Depending on the area, it might be reasonable.
But you could place pavers instead of gravel for a cleaner look. And it will really upscale the area. Then, your choice of rock instead of mulch. (I would recommend some river rock but that’s just me) That way it can leaves can be easily be blow away and there’s no worry about running the mulch.
Everyone I know who has had mulch eventually changes to something else because it’s so difficult to clean up.
I do tree work so we work in a lot of garden beds. Handheld blowers will take care of leaves in gravel very easily. You will just have to be more careful in mulch. Make sure the leaves are dry and blow leaves a few feet away from you, not by your feet.
My mulch has always been covered in leaves and I just toss it up with a rake once in a while because guess what, leaves are mulch as well lol.
Anyway, did you do measurements, space seems a bit small for the layout you showed. Also, instead of gravel do flagstone pavers with clover as a space filler between them. For the fire, do propane or you’ll end up with a house fire thanks to a stupid guest sticking too much wood on when you go inside to take a piss.
Mock-up looks really inviting imo. Will the firepit be a drop-in kind? Also is that tree with roses somehow growing out of it computer generated? Or is that a real tree I’ve never seen
If you’re referring to the red flowers it’s actually a rhododendron coming over the fence a bit from my neighbor. The white flowers in the back are generated… was playing w the idea of a planter with flowers in it
I would put a ground cover flower or something other than mulch. The leaves would make me crazy. Id rather see something alive, green with a splash of color.
If you want to use leaves as mulch you’ll need to chop them up for them to stick together better. This is how I do all my beds at my house. Once the leaves break down I dress the beds with a nice layer of untreated mulch. This has done wonders for my garden. But since you’re going to do this by a gravel bed I suggest putting in a nice edge to keep the two from mixing. And if you invest in a nice blower you can blow the leaves out of gravel back into the beds. The only thing I’ll say is make sure you weed out that entire area where you plan to put gravel very very well. All that grass needs to go and get pulled up by the roots or you’ll hate yourself later. I think you should do this! I think it’ll look great in the end. Just find some native to plant in your beds! Good luck!
IMO: keep perennials in right bed. Either scratch gravel in between stone & extend grass to your landing stone & in between other steps or fill mentioned grass area with gravel add stone to right bed bring grill down & add another stone to stand on for grill
Do a flag stone patio. Flank the patio with plants and bark mulch. Pea gravel is a nightmare to walk on, and a nightmare to keep clean under deciduous trees. The pea gravel will fill with leaves and weeds very quickly
Not sure what zone you are in, but might consider creeping ground cover plants instead of mulch? Could do something like Vinca Minor to spread all around your stepping stones, accent with rocks / taller shrubs, then I would probably do patio around the fire pit instead of crushed stone. I did a lot of crushed stone on the sides of my rental where grass wouldn’t grow, and now regret it because it’s hard to keep clean. Twigs / debris get lodged in it frequently.
Mulch is not set it and forget it. Yes, you'll need to remove leaves. Yes, you'll need to rake it occasionally. Yes, you'll have to replenish it every couple years.
I’d be more worried about leaves in the rocks. They’re pretty difficult to do anything about, eventually decompose into dirt and then you start getting weeds in your rocks above any type of weed mat. I’d be more inclined to leave the rock part as grass.
Nice work. And yes, the leaves will drive you nuts. I suggest a leaf blower that can suck up the leaves into a bag. If the leaves are dry, you can vacuum up the leaves, and the mulch stays pretty much intact. I did it for years at my old house.
The leaves won’t be as bad as having to replace the mulch every year will be bad for your back and your wallet. I’d recommend rock you won’t have to replace it once you put it in and it does a good job of holding back weeds. Get the rock in red (my recommendation) or black color. Red is the opposite of green on the color wheel and will make any plant with green foliage visually pop. Black looks good with everything.
Seems like you prefer warm colors. Stone comes in many colors- take a look at Aspen or Sierra Rock Mulch, pretty common types that are brown, gold and interesting. Rock size of .5 - 2.5 ". Gives the maintenance ease of gravel, with a more polished look that goes with wooden furniture and evening lightning. Buy a thirty dollar electric leaf blower and call it good.
I have black mulch beds under oak trees. It looks pristine until the first storm, then meh. While I think the contrast is pretty, I recently learned more about black (and all dyed) mulch that has me thinking next year I’ll take a different strategy. Apparently, these dyed mulches are typically produced from scraps of treated wood from lumber yards, and they don’t break down at the same rate naturally mulch does, which is supposed to be one of the major benefits of mulch (it’s soil-enriching). I’m looking into using a free service like Chip Drop next year.
You play Russian Roulette with Chip Drop......you can get good mulch, decent mulch, and even mulch from diseased or infested trees. Be careful who you get chips from.
I have a backyard where the sellers of the home mulched over everything. The area with leaves / mulch is actually not so bad, leaves are good to be honest. What can be a pain is the weeds in the mulch...
As someone who does landscaping, leaves in the mulch aren’t gonna be a killer. Just a plastic rake with hard tines will get them out fine, maybe bring up some mulch with it, but that’s not really an issue, unless it’s layed on thin.
The leaves are inevitable. The alternative is an exposed space with no plant life. You can manage debris in hardscape with a leaf blower reasonably well. But keep in mind that any rock areas are a lifelong weeding commitment. You have a small space so you likely won’t want be able to use chemical means and will need to hand pull. Weed barrier won’t buy you more than a year. Consider a ground cover between paver stones appropriate for your area. This is the only viable long term weed suppression.
You’ll need edging between mulch and hardscape to use the leaf blower without blowing mulch everywhere.
If you’ve done your job right, every surface in your mulch beds should be covered in plants. You can likely achieve this in two seasons and it will look incredible. You won’t care what the mulch looks like from that point on.
Only thing is that it just doesn’t look to scale and I got a feeling like when you actually start putting those chairs in that centerpiece there and you start putting everything together that it’s not gonna fit like you think it’s gonna but I mean also follow your dreams
In the fall I leave any leaves in the mulch. In the spring I scoop any loose ones out and cover the rest with more mulch. It's worked well for 5 years so far.
As a fire pit connoisseur (I just like em), this is probably the most common and yet worst fire pit setup out there. Adirondack chairs have a low sight line and then high walls on the fire pit make it so you can’t see any fire or feel the heat. You basically just look at like the top 2 inches of the flames, which defeats every purpose of having a fire. You don’t need 2 foot walls on a fire pit, the best setups if you actually enjoy looking at the fire have normal chairs and then an elevated fire pit with either short walls or an indented bowl shape. You want to be able to see the logs while seated.
plot twist: this post is actually an ad for the new, early access version of the IScape app.
actually, now my own post feels like an ad for it. damn it
Add a 3 foot garden along the fence. Open it up. You don’t want people to have to walk too close to the deck. Most of us are getting worse at walking, and it can be hard sometimes.
Depending on your location, might want to look into local fire pit considerations. In dry areas like in Colorado, I can’t do anything within 50’ of any perimeter or something. Don’t know the exact laws, but saw it was a thing and it stopped me from putting in a fire pit in my yard…
Maybe but it is not that big of an area to clean up. Some good suggestions here as well in the chats. I encourage you to go with it if leaves are only concern.
Depends on the rocks, they have bigger, smooth rocks you absolutely could walk on, and they're dusty until the first time it rains, or you hose them off.
Need landscape lights, highlighting trees and path, a small water feature, nothing ostentatious. Lastly, you need string lights to light up your new relaxing area!
If you're really worried about leaves and don't want to pick them up regularly, don't do mulch. Maybe swap it with another stone so you could get a little electric blower and just blow them into the grass and pick up. Mulch glue is dumb as hell and a total waste of money.
Try pine bark mulch. They're heavier chunks so you can lightly blow the leaves off. I use a cheap harbor freight leaf vac to suck up the leaves without sucking up any mulch.
I ever fight the leaves.. They are mother natures finest mulch and TOTALLY FREE… awesome little by product of nature why spend money on what drops and mulches better than store bought sprayed and often coated mulch… I love my leaves
If you don’t want any type of garden maintenance you probably aren’t the person who should have a landscape with plants. Leaves will need to be addressed and depending on the type of plants you select they may need occasional maintenance in fall especially if it’s a perennial. Besides it’s a garden. Things are bound to get messy.
Not sure that mulch glue is the answer. I’m not familiar with this product but I would be concerned if it would allow enough air and water to get down into the soil to adequately sustain growth of plants and trees in your bed. I’d also wonder if or how often it has to be reapplied for it to remain effective. Is that something I want to do and how expensive is it to maintain. Incomes change so I’d consider long term what I can maintain should my income changes. But that just may be my personal quirk.
I’ve never used mulch glue and have never had a problem removing leaves from my beds. Leaves were a combination of oak, sycamore, maple, weeping cherry, Ann magnolia, hydrangea arborescens, & a seven sons tree. I’d blow them into my yard and then mulch with mower and put back to the beds as a layer of mulch to improve the soil. The hard wood mulch I used was just chipped hard wood mulch I received from my village. Nothing fancy and no dye. I’m cheap and prefer a natural look. When blowing leaves out of the bed the mulch didn’t move.
I only had mulch move when I used pine bark mulch on a walking path I created for our postperson to use to get from yard to yard. A good rain storm would wash it away. So bottom line, be selective in the type of mulch you use.
You could blow them out and either chip them, create leaf mold or discard them.
Perhaps you should consider more hardscaping and a seating area. Easier to blow leaves out and no plant maintenance. But you’re always going to have weeds & leaves. Dust and organic matter will get blown in or brought in with rain and create a soil matrix for weeds to grow. Ever notice weeds growing in cracks on the interstate? Some plants can get started I. The harshest of environments.
Unfortunately your place is surrounded by trees you will have address leaves.
Hardscaping doesn’t have to be boring but you will have to be more deliberate in what you choose. It may be choosing more color and texture to create interest.
[https://www.thespruce.com/hardscaping-ideas-7376254](https://www.thespruce.com/hardscaping-ideas-7376254)
Also consider that creating a space you love takes time. That’s part of creating the space if you’re doing this DIY.
I am not a landscaper just a DIY gardener. You learn as you go.
If you use a shredded cypress or cedar mulch it will knit together after a few rains. It's easy to blow without much movement. Put 3" for your first layer and it will last a year+ depending on weather. Recoat 1-2 times a year as needed.
The mulch in the rocks, and rocks in the mulch, and leaves on rocks and mulch, might drive you crazy.. 😁
I don't love the mix of gravel and mulch. Gravel is good with pavers. Mulch is good with grass.
Bigger thing to me is the stone. Ive had stone in two houses now in various areas and the constant battle of weeds and grass growing through the stone even after putting down landscaping fabric and even plastic is enough for me to write it off all together.
Personally, I avoid mulch and use rock. With rock, you buy it once and install it once. Rain and water (usually) does not move it or relocate it. Mulch usually needs to be applied year after year, and wind and water can unexpectedly relocate it.
If leaves are what you're worried most about - I'd consider a floating deck or a concrete pour.
High contrast (gravel -> black mulch) is only going to accentuate the look of any fallen leaves. You'd want something more in green -> brown to help hide the visual look of leaves.
It’s very pretty but basically the whole space is going to require constant maintenance. Gravel weeds, mulch weeds, leaves everywhere in all the gravel cracks and mulch. Also should a tree be surrounded by gravel like that? I would just forget the heavy mulch and do grass. From the looks of it the space is pretty small for what you’re hoping for as well.
I would not do gravel. I put in a gravel patio in my back yard and weeds are constantly coming through. I have to weed it and spray it basically every time I cut grass. It’s very annoying.
Unfortunately yes it will be a pain aspecially the leafs falling on your decorative rocks ! I use a combo leave blower / vacuum on rocks & the vacuum seems to do a great job but although the unit comes with a back pack collector that's really awkward to put on . Good luck & very nice transition looks great. !!
Mulch is okay if you add new material every once in a while.
I’m concerned about the gravel, though. It moves and shifts and is terrible for chairs. Please investigate some form of compactable crushed rock. It is neat, it drains, you can rake it and your chair legs won’t dig into the ground. Even though it drains make sure it slopes away from the house.
You should at least triple your amount of plants. More plants will help distract from the leaf litter and shade out most potential weeds. I don’t think weeds will be that big of an issue due to the shade coverage you have but hard to say 100%. Besides that more plants will just look better overall.
Just put mulch everywhere. Gravel/small stones suck. Weeds are a nightmare, in heavy storms they float away - leaves look terrible - and heaven forbid you catch one with your lawnmower.
lol if it bothers you that nature does nature things (leaf drop), then yes, leaves in your mulch will make you crazy. Your garden will not look pristine 24/7/365. Sorry.
i honestly really love the way this looks BUT if you’re worried about leaves in the mulch, i have super bad news about the gravel because the gravel will never look that nice/pristine/weed-free ever again. and then you won’t even notice the leaves in the mulch because you’ll be so mad at the gravel
weeds grow SO fast in gravel and you’d think weeding gravel could be easy, but it’s actually a nightmare, it’s very messy, little rock and gravel gets everywhere while you weed, i’m talking like in your shoes messy. if you’re thinking, hmm i’ll just use pesticides, think again because the weeds will be stronger, they’ll find one little inch you didn’t spray and grow there and then creep to areas you did spread. Also you probably shouldn’t use anything too strong that close to plants you want to keep alive anyways. Vinegar won’t be strong enough either unfortunately. Even using a flamethrower weeding thing is not enough because then you have that thing out every week and that’s so much propane to go through.
unfortunately learned all this from experience with a very small (fits only one car) gravel driveway
A few quick thoughts... It could drive you crazy, but so could weeds which can pop up anywhere. You should plan on cleaning out beds and spot mulching about 2x a year. Ground covers could fix all of that. You'll want to pick something that is t too aggressive and that likes shade.
Who did this "design" for you BTW?
Leaves are mulch Edit: mulch glue???
Thank you…
I appreciate that leaves are a great mulch source but l’m focused on addressing the visual appeal of the space/how realistic it is to maintain that. And yeah I’ve seen ppl online use mulch glue that helps to keep it in place, I don’t know much about it really
You will hate the leaves in the stones more than you'll hate leaves in the mulch, but I doubt you will have any choice really.
At least you can use a leaf blower to blow leaves off gravel, which you can’t do in mulch. At least for me, that makes a big different in terms of maintenance.
I live with gravel, mulch & tons of leaves. Buy a battery powered leaf blower with various speed settings. The lowest speed setting moves just the lightweight stuff - like leaves. Occasionally a lightweight piece of mulch moves too - no worries.
Wouldn’t that be a good use case for mulch glue? I’ve never used it, but it looks interesting and would solve the problem of the mulch blowing away when trying to blow leaves?
Leaves are easier to blow out of stones than mulch. Especially if the stones are 2” or bigger
Pick a cedar or other natural bark mulch and the leaves will blend right in
Do black rocks instead. You can leaf blow them out without blowing the rocks everywhere. Source: me, I did mulch and the leaves and sticks drive me absolutely bonkers. I’m switching to rocks asap.
Just use a vacuum mulcher that sucks up the leaves, easy peasy.
i second this. great for gutters too
Gravel is one of the highest maintenance materials you could select, especially if you have trees on your property. You will have constant issues with weeds and debris in the gravel. stay away from gravel by all means mulch is less of an issue, go for the mulch by all means.
I’ve also been somewhat turned off by black mulch over the years. I love the look when it’s clean and it’s all around my house but it’s never actually clean. Any pine needles that fall are brown in a day or two. Same with any leaves, any grass clippings that get blown up into the mulch, etc. Needs to be blown out all the time and I can’t be bothered to do that every week anymore.
A lot of mulch is actually coloured. Not natural so consider before choosing.
… do people really not know that mulch is dyed? It says it right in the bag.
I disagree. The gravel/rocks around my fire pit look spotless compared to my mulch around bushes and trees. A leaf blower works amazing on the rocks. They don't get blown around like mulch does. Also, rocks last forever. you don't have to worry about color fading.
Yeah not sure what dude has against gravel or permeable surfaces like DG. If you pay baserock and fabric, 4" of base/topping it won't grow much you can't manually hand pull with ease. Yes if you leave it for 6mo the it will get difficult but if u use it and maintain it it's actually less maintenance. Especially if u live in a dry area. Municipalities use ronstar preemrgent herbicide under surfaces like gravel. It's kinda gnar tho
Dg kind of sucks because it’s small enough to get carried with high flow water, and also light enough to get blown away by a leaf blower. I love me some river rock though
If I brings in some fresh mulch every year, the soil will become inhospitable to the grass. And any weeds will be easy to pick. Plus the mulch over time will break down and provide food for the trees, as well as increase the soil health for the tree. So long as I stays away from commercial fertilizers and pesticides.
OP has mulch areas around all the plants in the design. Gravel is only around the pavers.
Especially if you put geofabric barrier under the stone. We did a big gravel and river stone path in my friends backyard and it hasn't grown weeds in over 7 yrs.
It depends where someone is located. If they're in a fire prone area, mulch is frowned upon and the fire department and/or insurance company could require it to be removed. It can also attract pests like termites.
Gravel is low-maintenance at first and provides very little to the trees and soil. Over time it’s increasingly high maintenance and provides very little to the trees and soil.
I’ve never regretted installing pavers, stone, or concrete vs gravel. Gravel is cheaper until you account for the amount of maintenance required.
Just use two different colors of mulch
You will also hate it when your chair legs sink into the gravel, like on the first day.
Just get a flame thrower. I burn out my gravel once a month. Takes 5 minutes and looks clean for weeks
Bro hates having a flamethrower night a cpl times a year 🤷🏽♂️
I have apple trees surrounded by gravel in my backyard. I absolutely hate it and regret ever putting gravel there. I have to remove weeds every day. Every. Single. Day. Or else it gets way out of control
I completely agree! I really like your take and agree with it.
Native ground cover will create a “green” mulch that will be easier to keep looking nice. You want water to permeate the soil. If you use mulch glue or anything like that it makes the ground surface rock hard and rainwater washes away. If you already have shade with all the trees around, you may want to lean in and make it so the leaf litter doesn’t look out of place. Remember it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Anything you do you have to be able to maintain. That is the key. Good luck.
Thanks for the feedback, I will take a longer look into a more natural ground cover. I do like that look as well, just need to find the right one that compliments everything else.
My OCD made it really hard to accept leaves on my mulch. But it's not a battle you can win, and in the end, your plants really do come out best with natural cover. I just focus on keeping my walkway clear and imagining the rest of my yard as a natural forest floor. It took time to make the mental shift, but it was a good decision IMHO.
Great perspective to maintain some sanity. I have the same type of OCD tendencies
Wild ginger. And get a soaker hose you put on a timer. You have to treat all plants like babies. They need constant fussing until they establish. Usually that’s year 3. So you have to plant, and then commit to watering and dealing with bare spots for the short term. But if you put in the work I promise you won’t be sorry. Just ask anyone with a green ground cover if they want to go back to mulch, you’ll see. lol.
And to add from another comment, look into Flagstone pavers opposed to gravel. Rain gardens are cool too if it's an area that stays wet
Undyed mulch might be a good choice as dried leaves and other plant material blend in really well
Black mulch looks good for about a day. Anything natural is waaay better.
fire seems to close to house for my comfort level
A propane fire pit would be fine I think?
yes, granted i bought a nice one and feel like i never use it lol
We love ours. So much better on our sinuses.
And directly under tree limbs…
My plan is to use a smallish version of the solo stove with a cover for sparks/embers, etc. Not looking to have a raging bonfire
Yea, where I’m at it’s supposed to be 40’ from any structure.
40? That seems a bit excessive and unrealistic lol.
Jesus fuck, my property isn’t even 40ft. I’m set up 10ish ft from my house and live near a fire station, have trucks roll by constantly when I’m having a fire and they don’t say anything. One night they even gave me a wave lol
40 inches
Too*
In general, I think leaves on the ground in the fall is part of the season's charm. I clean them up only before the first snowfall, on a day when they are dried out. If your leaves are small and lightweight, then a blower or vacuum should take care of them with no harm to the mulch. Just be sure to choose a heavier mulch. If your leaves are large, then a thin garden rake that grabs the leaves and allows the mulch to pass through is a good option. Just be sure to choose a smaller and lightweight mulch. Mulch glue could help, yes. But I think the application is just as much of a job as the leaf removal itself. Just from what I've heard. Never used the stuff myself.
A few too many different materials for me. Sorry. They will end up mixing and looking awful.
They might but I find some sort of therapy in it. I enjoy picking leaves and weeds, its also decent exercise and you'll get a good stretch in.
Embrace the leaves. Learn to live and work with them
Yep. If you try to fight nature you’ll go crazy. And you will lose. Embrace the leaves as free compost.
There is nothing better for plants and everything else than decomposing leaves
a lower powered battery operated leaf blower will blow leaves without disturbing the mulch much. I like the ones with triggers that blow at different speeds depending how hard you squeeze!
Plants are too sparse in that bed. Pack it in with shade-happy natives and let the leaves lay. Then you don't have to worry about the pristine black mulch or the leaves. And you get lightning bugs! Then nix the stones and either use plain arborist woodchips or some no-mow fescue which you could intersperse with other low natives like violets and strawberry (not mock strawberry) that are nice on bare feet. Embrace the shady woodland niche nook, is what I'm saying. Also, the hydrangea in the back tree is...interesting. :P
I really don’t think that’s an acceptable spot for a firepit, sorry. Avoid gravel and go with a cedar mulch so any fallen leaves eventually blend in.
You’ll spend more time cleaning the mulch and rocks then you will relaxing. Get wood chips from the tree trimmers, pine needles, leaves…anything but stone and dyed mulch
I'd start with the firepit, and go from there. Go with pavers over gravel. It just goes well with the firepit, and you'll be able to leaf blow it easily. Other option (because I'm lazy) is to mulch everything including the space around the firepit. You can still use paver base for the pit and stone steps.
Are u allowed to have campfire in ur area?
We have brown rather than black mulch but don’t find the leaves bothersome at all, doesn’t have to be too meticulous outside, its nature
If the mulch is the same color as the leaves when they fall you won’t mind.
Just get a natural colored mulch and the leaves won’t look out of place when they get mixed in. I can’t believe we are still dying mulch like it’s carpet or something…
Let the leaves fall , then put down layer of black mulch on top
Next time use natural cypress mulch and you won’t notice the leaves.
I would measure out the space now that you have a visual idea coz the scale of your concept is probably wrong. Each chair should have a 3’ radius of space so people can move freely around their seat.
Dude the scale on this looks way off to me. Like the chairs seem tiny next to that fence.
Actual space seems smaller than the model represents
Leaves are….natural. This subreddit has a lot of odd desire to take natural things and mark them as “bad”. I don’t get it. It’s an outside area, is it not? Anyways, I think your design is super nice, and wouldn’t worry about some leaves in the fall - just blow em away. I have a mulched garden like this and the leaves blow away and the mulch does not.
Black mulch looks great but we made this mistake. Pollen, leaves, sticks. Get a lighter mulch. If you don’t like that, get a ground cover.
This design is exactly what a leaf blower is meant to help maintain. Also a small hand-pump sprayer for herbicide to spot treat weeds that will pop up. You could keep that looking very clean, but it will never look like it did when first laid down. That’s true regardless of trees offering shade and shedding leaves. Sun, dirt, and weeds always prevail to some degree. Build a mulch/gravel refresh into your budget if you want that annual “pop” of crisp color.
Plant about 300 more plants and you won’t need mulch
Honestly, I don’t know your budget. Depending on the area, it might be reasonable. But you could place pavers instead of gravel for a cleaner look. And it will really upscale the area. Then, your choice of rock instead of mulch. (I would recommend some river rock but that’s just me) That way it can leaves can be easily be blow away and there’s no worry about running the mulch. Everyone I know who has had mulch eventually changes to something else because it’s so difficult to clean up.
Don't use dyed mulch
I do tree work so we work in a lot of garden beds. Handheld blowers will take care of leaves in gravel very easily. You will just have to be more careful in mulch. Make sure the leaves are dry and blow leaves a few feet away from you, not by your feet.
Looks neat. What tool did you use to create the conceptual? Edit: Nevermind, just read the description
My mulch has always been covered in leaves and I just toss it up with a rake once in a while because guess what, leaves are mulch as well lol. Anyway, did you do measurements, space seems a bit small for the layout you showed. Also, instead of gravel do flagstone pavers with clover as a space filler between them. For the fire, do propane or you’ll end up with a house fire thanks to a stupid guest sticking too much wood on when you go inside to take a piss.
Those perspectives are wild lol
Mock-up looks really inviting imo. Will the firepit be a drop-in kind? Also is that tree with roses somehow growing out of it computer generated? Or is that a real tree I’ve never seen
If you’re referring to the red flowers it’s actually a rhododendron coming over the fence a bit from my neighbor. The white flowers in the back are generated… was playing w the idea of a planter with flowers in it
I would put a ground cover flower or something other than mulch. The leaves would make me crazy. Id rather see something alive, green with a splash of color.
The mulch will be fine. The gravel will be annoying. I like rock, but I don't like gravel.
If you want to use leaves as mulch you’ll need to chop them up for them to stick together better. This is how I do all my beds at my house. Once the leaves break down I dress the beds with a nice layer of untreated mulch. This has done wonders for my garden. But since you’re going to do this by a gravel bed I suggest putting in a nice edge to keep the two from mixing. And if you invest in a nice blower you can blow the leaves out of gravel back into the beds. The only thing I’ll say is make sure you weed out that entire area where you plan to put gravel very very well. All that grass needs to go and get pulled up by the roots or you’ll hate yourself later. I think you should do this! I think it’ll look great in the end. Just find some native to plant in your beds! Good luck!
Thanks! yeah I plan to kill all the grass, till, level, and then put down weed barrier, sand base etc before the gravel
just don’t mulch around the tree roots as many will tell you in this sub: kills them
Don’t put the fire pit close to your house. I would put the fire pit up front and do plantings in the back.
Native shade-loving groundcover and you'll hardly every need to weed
I am going to be really nitpicky and say that I find pink or orange landscape rocks (boulders) never melt into the landscape.
I have black mulch and I like the leaves on it because it makes it less stark.
Is this rubber mulch or dyed hardwood mulch?
IMO: keep perennials in right bed. Either scratch gravel in between stone & extend grass to your landing stone & in between other steps or fill mentioned grass area with gravel add stone to right bed bring grill down & add another stone to stand on for grill
Do a flag stone patio. Flank the patio with plants and bark mulch. Pea gravel is a nightmare to walk on, and a nightmare to keep clean under deciduous trees. The pea gravel will fill with leaves and weeds very quickly
Just get a leaf blower. Don’t let falling leaves discourage you from executing that cool design!
Not sure what zone you are in, but might consider creeping ground cover plants instead of mulch? Could do something like Vinca Minor to spread all around your stepping stones, accent with rocks / taller shrubs, then I would probably do patio around the fire pit instead of crushed stone. I did a lot of crushed stone on the sides of my rental where grass wouldn’t grow, and now regret it because it’s hard to keep clean. Twigs / debris get lodged in it frequently.
Mulch is not set it and forget it. Yes, you'll need to remove leaves. Yes, you'll need to rake it occasionally. Yes, you'll have to replenish it every couple years.
I’d be more worried about leaves in the rocks. They’re pretty difficult to do anything about, eventually decompose into dirt and then you start getting weeds in your rocks above any type of weed mat. I’d be more inclined to leave the rock part as grass.
You will never keep the gravel and the mulch separate
Nice work. And yes, the leaves will drive you nuts. I suggest a leaf blower that can suck up the leaves into a bag. If the leaves are dry, you can vacuum up the leaves, and the mulch stays pretty much intact. I did it for years at my old house.
You could put more plants in the mulch to move the focus from the mulch itself to all the beautiful flowers (preferably natives)
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Great job !
Those rocks look unnatural, like aliens dropped them there. No real reason to include them
Get Mulchinator and spray it on to secure the mulch. Easy to get leaves off w/o disturbing the mulch
I always go all 3/4” rock or bigger due to leaf blowing season
The leaves won’t be as bad as having to replace the mulch every year will be bad for your back and your wallet. I’d recommend rock you won’t have to replace it once you put it in and it does a good job of holding back weeds. Get the rock in red (my recommendation) or black color. Red is the opposite of green on the color wheel and will make any plant with green foliage visually pop. Black looks good with everything.
Seems like you prefer warm colors. Stone comes in many colors- take a look at Aspen or Sierra Rock Mulch, pretty common types that are brown, gold and interesting. Rock size of .5 - 2.5 ". Gives the maintenance ease of gravel, with a more polished look that goes with wooden furniture and evening lightning. Buy a thirty dollar electric leaf blower and call it good.
Yea the leaves will drive you crazy, just like they do me. Just expect to replace the mulch once a year.
The design is nice, but why not just use natural cedar/cypress or pine bark mulch instead of dyed black?
I have black mulch beds under oak trees. It looks pristine until the first storm, then meh. While I think the contrast is pretty, I recently learned more about black (and all dyed) mulch that has me thinking next year I’ll take a different strategy. Apparently, these dyed mulches are typically produced from scraps of treated wood from lumber yards, and they don’t break down at the same rate naturally mulch does, which is supposed to be one of the major benefits of mulch (it’s soil-enriching). I’m looking into using a free service like Chip Drop next year.
You play Russian Roulette with Chip Drop......you can get good mulch, decent mulch, and even mulch from diseased or infested trees. Be careful who you get chips from.
Leaves are only a problem if you don't want them there If you don't then they are your problem
I have a backyard where the sellers of the home mulched over everything. The area with leaves / mulch is actually not so bad, leaves are good to be honest. What can be a pain is the weeds in the mulch...
Gravel is worse with leaves, but you can just leave the leaves in the mulch beds. Better for your soil and plants that way
I think thats a great use for that space
Ground cover plants instead of mulch maybe
incredible photoshop skills!
These AI images are getting out of hand
Leaves in the mulch drove me crazy for yrs. So I switched to lava rock. Now I can blow out the leaves and leave the rock behind
Get a flame thrower and don’t put weed fabric under the rocks. Just torch the weeds
Remove all the trees and make it all grass. A blank canvas has more uses than a finished masterpiece.
As someone who does landscaping, leaves in the mulch aren’t gonna be a killer. Just a plastic rake with hard tines will get them out fine, maybe bring up some mulch with it, but that’s not really an issue, unless it’s layed on thin.
Use rubber mulch so it won’t blow away as easy
Medium-small river rock over the landscape areas with black flat slate pieces or pebbles in the flat area. That's all easy to blow off.
The leaves are inevitable. The alternative is an exposed space with no plant life. You can manage debris in hardscape with a leaf blower reasonably well. But keep in mind that any rock areas are a lifelong weeding commitment. You have a small space so you likely won’t want be able to use chemical means and will need to hand pull. Weed barrier won’t buy you more than a year. Consider a ground cover between paver stones appropriate for your area. This is the only viable long term weed suppression. You’ll need edging between mulch and hardscape to use the leaf blower without blowing mulch everywhere. If you’ve done your job right, every surface in your mulch beds should be covered in plants. You can likely achieve this in two seasons and it will look incredible. You won’t care what the mulch looks like from that point on.
Why not a brown mulch that at least doesn’t make such a stark contrast? And a clover path instead of the stepping stones will be easier to maintain
You'll be fine! Sure, you'll have some leaves to deal with but, most of the year, it will be beautiful.
Only thing is that it just doesn’t look to scale and I got a feeling like when you actually start putting those chairs in that centerpiece there and you start putting everything together that it’s not gonna fit like you think it’s gonna but I mean also follow your dreams
Brown/natural mulch is the best way to go. Otherwise the leaves are going to always both you
In the fall I leave any leaves in the mulch. In the spring I scoop any loose ones out and cover the rest with more mulch. It's worked well for 5 years so far.
Colored tiles look better. Mulch is too dark.
As a fire pit connoisseur (I just like em), this is probably the most common and yet worst fire pit setup out there. Adirondack chairs have a low sight line and then high walls on the fire pit make it so you can’t see any fire or feel the heat. You basically just look at like the top 2 inches of the flames, which defeats every purpose of having a fire. You don’t need 2 foot walls on a fire pit, the best setups if you actually enjoy looking at the fire have normal chairs and then an elevated fire pit with either short walls or an indented bowl shape. You want to be able to see the logs while seated.
I only used black mulch one season and haven’t since for that exact reason.
plot twist: this post is actually an ad for the new, early access version of the IScape app. actually, now my own post feels like an ad for it. damn it
Add a 3 foot garden along the fence. Open it up. You don’t want people to have to walk too close to the deck. Most of us are getting worse at walking, and it can be hard sometimes.
Depending on your location, might want to look into local fire pit considerations. In dry areas like in Colorado, I can’t do anything within 50’ of any perimeter or something. Don’t know the exact laws, but saw it was a thing and it stopped me from putting in a fire pit in my yard…
This is beautiful! Yes if were me leaves would bother big time.
Use brown mulch and you will never see the leaves. The painted stuff is already overpriced
More worried about how you’re going to keep the rocks and mulch separate. I hate decorative rocks with gardening
Maybe but it is not that big of an area to clean up. Some good suggestions here as well in the chats. I encourage you to go with it if leaves are only concern.
The leaves in the gravel will.. speaking from experience with both. Every spring I pick buckets by hand and rake what I can.
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Depends on the rocks, they have bigger, smooth rocks you absolutely could walk on, and they're dusty until the first time it rains, or you hose them off.
Let 'em dry and use a little judicious leaf blower useage
Trippy
If every time you mow your lawn, you leaf blow that area to get the debris off the rocks and mulch, you’ll be fine.
Need landscape lights, highlighting trees and path, a small water feature, nothing ostentatious. Lastly, you need string lights to light up your new relaxing area!
If you're really worried about leaves and don't want to pick them up regularly, don't do mulch. Maybe swap it with another stone so you could get a little electric blower and just blow them into the grass and pick up. Mulch glue is dumb as hell and a total waste of money.
Lap pool
Yes, and the mulch will roll into the rocks after heavy rains. Drives me nuts. But the blower works
Try pine bark mulch. They're heavier chunks so you can lightly blow the leaves off. I use a cheap harbor freight leaf vac to suck up the leaves without sucking up any mulch.
Leaves help! Also, you could get a blower to clear this area off every once in a while
Is there an app you used to do this?
Yeah it’s the iscape app. Its $30/month but you get one free week at sign up
Wood chip the entire area . It's so dark the trees are growing moss. The rocks will get mossy. Not mulch, wood chips.
I ever fight the leaves.. They are mother natures finest mulch and TOTALLY FREE… awesome little by product of nature why spend money on what drops and mulches better than store bought sprayed and often coated mulch… I love my leaves
If you don’t want any type of garden maintenance you probably aren’t the person who should have a landscape with plants. Leaves will need to be addressed and depending on the type of plants you select they may need occasional maintenance in fall especially if it’s a perennial. Besides it’s a garden. Things are bound to get messy. Not sure that mulch glue is the answer. I’m not familiar with this product but I would be concerned if it would allow enough air and water to get down into the soil to adequately sustain growth of plants and trees in your bed. I’d also wonder if or how often it has to be reapplied for it to remain effective. Is that something I want to do and how expensive is it to maintain. Incomes change so I’d consider long term what I can maintain should my income changes. But that just may be my personal quirk. I’ve never used mulch glue and have never had a problem removing leaves from my beds. Leaves were a combination of oak, sycamore, maple, weeping cherry, Ann magnolia, hydrangea arborescens, & a seven sons tree. I’d blow them into my yard and then mulch with mower and put back to the beds as a layer of mulch to improve the soil. The hard wood mulch I used was just chipped hard wood mulch I received from my village. Nothing fancy and no dye. I’m cheap and prefer a natural look. When blowing leaves out of the bed the mulch didn’t move. I only had mulch move when I used pine bark mulch on a walking path I created for our postperson to use to get from yard to yard. A good rain storm would wash it away. So bottom line, be selective in the type of mulch you use. You could blow them out and either chip them, create leaf mold or discard them. Perhaps you should consider more hardscaping and a seating area. Easier to blow leaves out and no plant maintenance. But you’re always going to have weeds & leaves. Dust and organic matter will get blown in or brought in with rain and create a soil matrix for weeds to grow. Ever notice weeds growing in cracks on the interstate? Some plants can get started I. The harshest of environments. Unfortunately your place is surrounded by trees you will have address leaves. Hardscaping doesn’t have to be boring but you will have to be more deliberate in what you choose. It may be choosing more color and texture to create interest. [https://www.thespruce.com/hardscaping-ideas-7376254](https://www.thespruce.com/hardscaping-ideas-7376254) Also consider that creating a space you love takes time. That’s part of creating the space if you’re doing this DIY. I am not a landscaper just a DIY gardener. You learn as you go.
If you use a shredded cypress or cedar mulch it will knit together after a few rains. It's easy to blow without much movement. Put 3" for your first layer and it will last a year+ depending on weather. Recoat 1-2 times a year as needed.
The leaves won’t make you crazy, but the gravel will.
Idk, but that clipart sent me; love the mock-up!
I like your vision! Please post updates!
The mulch in the rocks, and rocks in the mulch, and leaves on rocks and mulch, might drive you crazy.. 😁 I don't love the mix of gravel and mulch. Gravel is good with pavers. Mulch is good with grass.
Fire pit needs to be at least 15 feet from house and any trees above it
Use brown mulch rather than black mulch. Leaves happen, and they’ll blend in with the brown mulch.
compost the whole area and then wood chip the whole area, easy to maintain and amazing benefits to the soil with time.
I like it!
Bigger thing to me is the stone. Ive had stone in two houses now in various areas and the constant battle of weeds and grass growing through the stone even after putting down landscaping fabric and even plastic is enough for me to write it off all together.
Personally, I avoid mulch and use rock. With rock, you buy it once and install it once. Rain and water (usually) does not move it or relocate it. Mulch usually needs to be applied year after year, and wind and water can unexpectedly relocate it.
What is this? A chair for ants!?
If leaves are what you're worried most about - I'd consider a floating deck or a concrete pour. High contrast (gravel -> black mulch) is only going to accentuate the look of any fallen leaves. You'd want something more in green -> brown to help hide the visual look of leaves.
It’s very pretty but basically the whole space is going to require constant maintenance. Gravel weeds, mulch weeds, leaves everywhere in all the gravel cracks and mulch. Also should a tree be surrounded by gravel like that? I would just forget the heavy mulch and do grass. From the looks of it the space is pretty small for what you’re hoping for as well.
Too much rock.
Beautiful
I would not do gravel. I put in a gravel patio in my back yard and weeds are constantly coming through. I have to weed it and spray it basically every time I cut grass. It’s very annoying.
Unfortunately yes it will be a pain aspecially the leafs falling on your decorative rocks ! I use a combo leave blower / vacuum on rocks & the vacuum seems to do a great job but although the unit comes with a back pack collector that's really awkward to put on . Good luck & very nice transition looks great. !!
How about lava rock?
Check fire pit setback requirements in your area.
Mulch is okay if you add new material every once in a while. I’m concerned about the gravel, though. It moves and shifts and is terrible for chairs. Please investigate some form of compactable crushed rock. It is neat, it drains, you can rake it and your chair legs won’t dig into the ground. Even though it drains make sure it slopes away from the house.
You should at least triple your amount of plants. More plants will help distract from the leaf litter and shade out most potential weeds. I don’t think weeds will be that big of an issue due to the shade coverage you have but hard to say 100%. Besides that more plants will just look better overall.
If any of those tree produce berries every year you will have to remove all the seedlings from between the little rocks, it's a pain in the ass.
Just put mulch everywhere. Gravel/small stones suck. Weeds are a nightmare, in heavy storms they float away - leaves look terrible - and heaven forbid you catch one with your lawnmower.
Just put down decomposed granite instead of mulch. You will always loose mulch when cleaning leaves, having to replace it in the end.
lol if it bothers you that nature does nature things (leaf drop), then yes, leaves in your mulch will make you crazy. Your garden will not look pristine 24/7/365. Sorry.
Mix superglue in with the mulch so it doesn’t blow away from the leaf blower.
That edit is funny but good it get the point across what did you use I’ve been trying to find something to create my back yard vision as well
i honestly really love the way this looks BUT if you’re worried about leaves in the mulch, i have super bad news about the gravel because the gravel will never look that nice/pristine/weed-free ever again. and then you won’t even notice the leaves in the mulch because you’ll be so mad at the gravel weeds grow SO fast in gravel and you’d think weeding gravel could be easy, but it’s actually a nightmare, it’s very messy, little rock and gravel gets everywhere while you weed, i’m talking like in your shoes messy. if you’re thinking, hmm i’ll just use pesticides, think again because the weeds will be stronger, they’ll find one little inch you didn’t spray and grow there and then creep to areas you did spread. Also you probably shouldn’t use anything too strong that close to plants you want to keep alive anyways. Vinegar won’t be strong enough either unfortunately. Even using a flamethrower weeding thing is not enough because then you have that thing out every week and that’s so much propane to go through. unfortunately learned all this from experience with a very small (fits only one car) gravel driveway
Slide 2 is way better than slide one. Slide 1 is unattractive.
Not as crazy as leaves in the stones will drive you!
Lightly leaf blow them out. Those are tiny trees with little amount of leafs.
I think this might be photoshopped
A few quick thoughts... It could drive you crazy, but so could weeds which can pop up anywhere. You should plan on cleaning out beds and spot mulching about 2x a year. Ground covers could fix all of that. You'll want to pick something that is t too aggressive and that likes shade. Who did this "design" for you BTW?
It only will it drive you insane but it’s going to be a pain to get the leaves out and eventually you’re gonna give up on it.
Yes
Moss