Last Updated on August 29, 2023 by ILGM Ninjas
In 1983 the band Def Leppard released their album Pyromania. The First track on the LP (you know vinyl) was Rock Rock (Till you drop). This music typified what I was listening to in the 80’s. This has absolutely nothing to do with a landscape but I can segway into a topic that a lot of people tur to when they get frustrated with their landscapes. That topic would be rock. Yes that lovely hard substance that looks good at the landscape supply yard, is a real joy to move, attracts weeds, absorbs heat and is not very fun to play football on. When used responsibly as an accent it can be very attractive but the wall-to-wall rock enthusiasts sometimes to the dismay of their neighbors are either frustrated with the concept of having a lawn, they abhor the price of water or generally hate living green things. Given that no one is talking about how the soil affects the rest of the equation it would be a good idea to examine all of the contributing factors and how they are causing people frustration and money. The first thing that needs to be addresses is soil compaction, the direct result of using synthetics stemming from the lack of fungal webs in the soil which naturally aerate the soil which are killed off from the salts in synthetics. The second reason water is not getting into the soil is from overgrown thatch which again is from a lack of microbial activity in the soil which is not keeping the thatch in check. The third area of concern which is really important is the lack of carbon in the soil which is a source of energy and also, and this is big so pay attention, keeps water in the soil as carbon attracts and holds water. This is just the tip of the iceberg but you can see some of the issues that might be driving people to rock.
Another concern to keep in mind is that rock is the epitome of inorganic. It contributes nothing to the cooling of the air, the removal of carbon from the air, the removal of pollution out of the air, noise reduction and the elevation of humidity which drives the formation of rain clouds. The installation of rock elevates the temperature, echoes noise, does not hold any water and does nothing for the air in which a plant would and rocks are the ultimate weed magnet as there is nothing to prevent them from occurring like there are in a lawn as there are no organic mechanisms working. If you study the millennial drought in Australia you would discover that they conceded that they had a knee jerk reaction to the heat by removing plants that took water believing that they were doing the climate a favor. What they experienced was that they worsened the drought and extending it by denying the sky humidity which is the seed for rain clouds. Without transpiration there is no humidity from the plants they took out.
Look we are not saying you should not use rocks at all but you should look at the whole picture and weighing how you are affecting your environment and the environment around you. Rocks contrary to popular belief are not “maintenance free”. They actually require some work. If you can let us help you befor you jump ship we can shed some light on what we have discovered. I truly believe that we can save the average customer 20-30% on their water bill by simply addressing the soil and if you weigh in efficient irrigation and automated mowing that number can jump to as much as 40-50%. Sounds like a joke? Not really if you understand what you are up against.
Give us a call we can help you.