The Real Cost of Rock Landscaping

Most of us live on the Wasatch Front because we enjoy the mountain scenery, trees, wildlife and rivers. We also enjoy all four seasons here; however, this seems to be changing. Our winters seem to be warmer and summers hotter. But all and all, we have a lot of greenery year-round. We have experienced serious drought in the recent past, with the last two years being better.

What worries me is a landscaping trend that everyone thinks is the big answer to water conservation, but I think there is a big misunderstanding of the actual cost of this trend.  Putting in Rocks as a landscaping might be appropriate in Arizona or New Mexico where that is the natural landscape, but it is certainly not the natural landscape here in northern Utah. That is what I want to get into here.

Taking out plants, whether it is grass or trees, and replacing them with rocks is not the answer. It has been sold under the name of xeriscaping, however that is a complete misunderstanding of the definition of xeriscaping. Xeriscaping is replacing plants with high watering needs with native plants that thrive in the climate conditions we have here in Weber County and therefore do not require excess water. Putting in rocks could be considered a way of landscaping if it were in the right location, where that is the natural landscape, but Weber County is not the desert, it is mountains, valleys, and rivers.

This practice should be called “zero-scaping”. However, in terms of botany or geology this practice would be called “desertification” which is: “the process by which fertile land becomes desert, typically as a result of drought, deforestation, or inappropriate agriculture”.

Having a landscaper come in and remove established plants, grass or trees should be considered deforestation or inappropriate landscaping, even though we are experiencing drought. A more appropriate way to deal with this situation would be overseeding grass with drought tolerant grass variety, replacing plants with high water needs to native plants and leaving the trees alone. Trees are way too important to be cutting them down. As I see it, the only reason to remove a tree is if it is sick or in decline, and that is only after attempts at saving it have been exhausted. It takes 18 mature trees to produce enough oxygen for one person to breathe per year and the closer proximity of that tree is to people the cleaner the air.

Another selling point, falsely used, is that there won't be any weeds. Just because they have sprayed and killed everything and put down weed barrier does not mean you won't have weeds. Just the opposite that is the only thing that will grow. Weeds grow as a response to what nature determines to be a critical situation. So, in response to the weed killers and pesticides and dead useless dirt, nature puts out plants with deep tap roots in search of nutrients to bring to the top. Even though there is weed barrier above and it might take a few years for these weeds to break through, when that does happen the root system will be so developed and deep that it will be impossible to remove the roots without moving the rocks. This then becomes costly and really rough on the hands. Pulling just the tops of them will further strengthen the root system and they will thrive. The rock landscape will look like rubbish. So, then the common go to, is to spray the rocks to kill the weeds. The problem with this is that the spray only kills the part of the weed that is exposed which then goes into decline, it turns brown and then produces seed which if not pulled anyway blows between other rocks and plants itself so next year you will have 10 times the weeds. Kind of pointless and still poisoning the places where your kids and pets walk. The other lie to be careful not to fall for is that pesticides and weed killers are safe once there have dried. This is just plain BS, as it does persist in the ground. (Please look at the articles I have shared under "informative articles")

Now maybe you’re thinking this girl is crazy, she must be one of those tree-huggers. Well, YES, I do love trees, but my reasoning is much more logical than that.

 

These are the positives reasons for keeping living plants:

 

• Trees, plants, and grass all take in carbon and store it, reducing green-house gases.
• Trees, plants, and grass all produce oxygen, putting it out into the air we breathe.
• All plants help retain moisture in the soil, keeping a thick layer of mulch on top of soil helps this process while reducing weeds.
• Living soil or topsoil is one of the most misunderstood natural resources we have. The difference between living soil and dirt is worms and insects living in it. Healthy plants depend on beneficial insects to produce living soil for them; without it, they all die.
• Trees provide shade and cool the microenvironment around them.

 

These are the negatives for putting in rocks:

 

• Rocks absorb heat contributing to the overall “urban heat island” defined as a phenomenon where urban areas experience higher temperatures than their rural surroundings due to human activities and the built environment. This effect happens in neighborhoods where homes are built relatively close together, most have put in rock landscapes, everyone has three cars or more and their air conditioners are running all the time because it is so hot outside. All of these factors contribute to energy consumption, air quality and health.
• The heat generated below the rocks kills the living soil beneath it turning topsoil into useless dirt, that erodes and when exposed it will blow away. It will also need a lot of amending to bring it back to useful soil, when you're sick of those rocks. You will be losing a natural resource the topsoil.
• There are no plants to provide fresh oxygen, cool the environment, or give your kids somewhere to play.
• It still needs to be maintained.

 

Bottom line is that landscapes; rock, xeric or traditional, all require maintenance. Traditional yards are the costliest and do little to for conservation, rock landscapes are out of place in Weber County and do more harm than good for this environment, not to mention their unsightliness down the road requiring a do over in the near future. Xeric when done properly, conserve water, promote living healthy soil, sequester carbon, produce oxygen, reduce temperatures and provide shade and a safe toxic free outdoor space. 

In conclusion, saving on a water bill that could probably be saved with the proper plantings and a thorough sprinkler check, make the real cost of putting in rocks way to high when compared to the loss of beautiful greenery, cleaner air, a cooler environment, and important topsoil.