3 Landscaping Tips I wish I knew before we Built... 

As a professional landscaper, a few corrections. You can do a drip system with or without rocks. Blowing "leaves out" can be done with wood mulch as well if you aren't a goober. You shouldn't be choosing plants that require constant irrigation, and instead plants for your climate. Rock "mulch" increases water need/usage, and increases the feeling of heat in your yard/property, by worsening the heat island effect. TLDR: Stay in your lane.

I'm a gardener, and I HIGHLY advise against rocks in garden beds. The rocks soak up heat from the sun in summer and then radiate the heat into the plant roots. MULCH is the way to go %100.

things i wish were practiced more in landscaping: incorporating plants native to the area. invasives are a huge detriment for the environment, and introducing native plants to your yard can be beautiful and improve the biodiversity of your area, too! also, mulch can be inconvenient when it comes to keeping a neat and tidy yard, but it can be great for creating a habitat for beneficial insects and animals. it'll also supply nutrients to the plants, keeping them healthy! edit: man i was so trigger happy writing this reply, i didn't read the rest of the comments. it's super exciting to see the majority of people commenting similar things. it seems people are becoming more nature-conscious. the earth is gonna heal, guys. im starting to believe it.

Plant native things so that you don't need to worry about irrigation or chemicals, use mulch and leave the leaves there, just maintain the mulch with a few bags every couple months during spring and summer. Plant things that are useful for wildlife or yourself, fruit vegetables herbs etc.

I hate rocks for landscaping because if you try to pull out weeds it’s harder then with the mulch also I love the mulch because it decomposes and adds nutrients back to the soil for the plants and if you can’t blow the leaves off the mulch beds you should leave them there cause they’ll also do the same thing with adding nutrients to the soil

A lot of plants don't do well with rock because it makes the roots hotter and doesn't hold the moisture as well.

I dunno… i like the fella that promotes native vegetation for landscaping…

Professional landscaper here and I disagree. I prefer mulch over rock because it holds moisture for the plants and can easily refreshed to look good as new each year. Drips are good but do have their own issues, for example harder to notice and troubleshoot when there is an issue or malfunction. Using all evergreens just doesn't look good, no variety and they often look scummy after some years or a particularly bad season. Use them selectively, not exclusively.

Native species and drought tolerant plants are the best!

Comments from the professional landscaper are right on. Buy plants that don’t need too much water. And a drip system is prone to problems, often having to be replaced yearly because of wear and tear, clogging up and squirrels eating it. So, if you want a drip system, you might be well advised to get proficient in replacing it. And, the rock comments, about heat and not good for plants, is also spot on.

Rocks aren't good for your plants or the soil mulch while it's annoying to replace is much better. I get not being able to blow the leaves off as well but you can just let the leaves decompose with the mulch

First tip... don't follow this guy's advice!

Use Native plants!!!

It's just me, but I find rocks look too industrial!

We have no bushes nor green shrubs in front of our home. We have mostly perennial flowers and some flowers my wife buys yearly. We also have two large pots on each side of the walkway just before the main entrance filled with various flowers. We love this alternative.

My experience is that the gravel, or rocks fills in with dirt, then what. It is very,very hard to remove, food for thought.

Rocks look v clean but building soil over time with appropriate mulching and composting can really make your land a place you’ll love even more! Happy dirt=happy pollinators you’ll love having around like bumblebees, butterflies, song birds, etc

Pine bark nuggets are not mulch. Neither is shredded wooden pallets dyed some unnatural color. Neither is stone. Nor pine needles. They are bedding material. Which may allow planting of hardy drought tolerant shrubs. Mulch is shredded hardwood bark. Which can decompose to be beneficial to the soil. It holds moisture and regulates temperature.

I think it’s all about preference and the maintenance the yard will need. Some people want to spend as little time possible and others enjoy working in the yard.

Let's be honest here, all these tips only benefit the landscaper in doing his job, NOT the homeowner....

I have stones. They sink into the soil, and you will still pull weeds. I had heavy duty lanscape fabric. Last owners put it in. Still had weeds. So you will still be mulching and still adding rocks.

Mulch, trees, or large bushes right up against your house are a great way to guarantee that you have foundation issues at some point in the future. Take it from someone who bought a house that had previously collapsed from tree roots cracking the foundation.

Rocks transmit heat and kill shrubbery etc.

I reside in a desert region, so I just go into the backlands and transplant native shrubs and trees around my house. From yucca,cactus, cedar trees, oak. They are adept and conserves our water.

Landscape with native plants. Use leaves as mulch then you don't have to worry about blowing leaves out. Mow less, bee more.

I would highly recommend planting natives!

I agree heartily with all that you said EXCEPT rock mulch. Soil-killing, heat-islands. Of course, where I live, it's 100°F+ 5 months of every year -- and, like Las Vegas, our town, St. George, has ENTIRELY too much rock. It makes it more unpleasant to live here, for people, wildlife, pets, and PLANTS. And, whatever blower people here are using, the blown-in debris does NOT easily "blow out", so we have hot, uncomfortable-to-walk-on rock, and our soil is DYING. And, the NOISE pollution, all the time, from our landscaper's (HOA development. Detached home (condo) with "common area" right up to my house walls. Yech.), landscaper's equipment destroys quality of life. On any given day, somewhere within earshot, someone(s) is using polluting, noxious motored blowers, mowers, + trimmers. Not good. St. George Utah has a poor sense of outdoor living. It's like, all they do here is walk golf courses, then scurry between rock landscaped beds.

I have rocks and I hate it, they are baking the trees in hot summer, fertilizing the shrubs got harder, and the weeds are still showing up.

Yeah but mulch looks better even though it's a pain to maintain. Rocks only look good if you're in a desert climate.

Make sure to choose what’s best for your region. Especially make sure you know what plants can go where you might end up planting stuff that dies within weeks. This means that maybe evergreens aren’t always the best. Also with evergreens just because they don’t drop all their leaves doesn’t mean they don’t drop anything. They drop old leaves and create thick leaf litter if not taken out routinely. If you become lazy you’ll have a a rock mess with tiny leaves.

Using rock as mulch causes soil to get extremely hot when the sun is baking your rocks. This is a killer of plants. A better idea is actual plant based groundcovers or wood mulch.

When you use mulch, not those fluffy pine nuggets, the leaves just blend in and there's no need to blow them. It's a nightmare blowing pine needles out of those rocks too.

Agree 100%. I found out the hard way as well. I keep saying Next house I build will have only evergreen plants and trees and no stinking bermuda grass that is impossible to keep from spreading into all your flower beds. I hate it with a passion.

Rocks are a lot more work to maintain. You have to be on top of the weeds like immediately. Mulch… once every two years I spread another layer. That’s it

Drip systems or soaker hoses are nice but remember to only leave them for a year or so until your plants are established. We waited a few years to pull the hoses out and they grew into the plants and were difficult to pull out.

When I owned my townhouse, I used the rocks, about 8" perimeter around the deck and 4' on the one side next to the other townhouse fence. Brown mulch everywhere else, topped off every year minimally.

Native plants are are great for native pollinators. Wild Ones is a native plant group. They have chapters across the US and videos on RU-vid. Also, instead of chemical drenched grass, learn to grow some of your own food.

I hate rocks in planting beds. No matter what you do, they end up in the grass and become missiles when the mower hits them. Also, eventuallydirt accumulates between them and weeds grow. Mulch is way better.

I hate hate and hate landscaping next to the house. So many problems come from it. First off your overhang should be 4 foot instead of 2 foot and you should have a 4 foot sidewalk all the way around. Not gravel, not grass and not landscaping. Now that you have concrete around your house protecting the foundation and preventing water from saturating the area you can plant flower/garden beds away from the house along the fence line/property line. WIth that sidewalk you now have the ability to expand a patio or add a side walk anywhere you want. Just make sure the sidewalk grades away from the house and you compact the correct way around the foundation and if you were smart you would rebar in to the foundation to support the sidewalk around the house. You could also do a monolithic pour if your area suits it.

In the Vegas area the rock mulch cooks your plants. Use wood or pine needles if you want happy plants.

I strongly disagree with you about the rocks. They are difficult to plant more and different plants once they're in. They harbor insects, and the plants get no nutrients from them.

I really hate rocks. We have rocks, too. There are SO MANY slugs, that I can not grow any veggies. But now we cant change it anymore.

From personal experience rocks also blow with the leaves as well and leaves a hard mess to clean up after. Also natural color mulch is great because you can tell the difference between the leaves and the mulch

I hate rocks, lol. Most of my yard was rock and weeds are difficult to manage. And they make the plants so hot.

You will have more weeds with rock. Also, white rock starts to look dirty and ugly after some rain or snow. Finally, It's much cheaper to replace mulch than rock.

I’ve used rocks over black plastic and have never had ANY of the “problems” mentioned here! None!

Tip 2 sounds good. Rocks instead of mulch looks good but serves less function than wood mulch. Maple keys do take some effort can be lightly blown out of wood mulch without losing too much

This is a great example why you don’t hire a builder or lawn person to do gardens. Gardening is a serious profession and can be done terribly costing you more in the long run and with poor results. As a gardener I would not recommend rocks for all of the reasons stated by everyone else on this thread, I also would never recommend landscape fabric except under hardscaping like flagstone walkways. The one thing I would recommend is low maintenance, hiring gardeners to mulch and weed can be very expensive or time consuming if you do it yourself. Larger ornamental shrubs, perrenials or grasses planted at appropriate distance from the house can add a lot of interest and are easy to mulch around with minimal maintenance. Viburnum, spirea, hyrangea, hasta are all great low maintenance flowering plants

Mulch is much more beneficial for the plants than rocks

Rock weight pushes down on the basement walls and footing.

With wood chips or mulch, leave the leaves in and just cover them up with new chips or mulch. Rocks are hotter around the plants in the summer. Weeds can grow in-between the rocks making it harder to pull out. Mulch or wood chips improve the soil making healthier plants.

I prefer mulch..so much easier than rock. Easy to remove leaves from and more organic. Rocks are fine if you don't have trees and someone else to clean the debris out. Too much hardscaping.

Your flowers and shrub don't do good in south.... also freeze more in winter.. also fill your bed full of your plants then weeds don't have room to grow

Plum slate mulch, alot nicer than wood chips

And make use of native species as much as possible.

Yeah nice add rocks that store heat instead of mulch that protects the dort underneath it

Roses bloom literally all year except winter.. get yourself some nice rose bushes.. double knockouts.

Rocks are the worst lol. Mulch is king for clean ups.

Rocks are a big no. And never have plant beds up against the house. Not good for your foundation.

“Blow the leaves(mulch) off the mulch” This is America

its a pain to move the rocks when you install landscape lighting, don't ask how I know lol

This is why Landscapers should take some kind of horticulture class . Mulch can be blown out too and by far has more pros compared to rocks that have many cons . Depending on the plant you don’t always need irrigation. Most people in the comments have it right more than this guy

I can agree with rock instead of mulch. As a landscaper, drip or personal irrigation is fine. But the original must have not been planned correctly. No reason any irrigation should be spraying the house. Water is the worst enemy and best friend to landscape

Nice tips. What drip system (brand)do you recommend? Where did you get yours?

How about using NATIVE species that way it promotes not only a better liking landscape but also better supports the local ecosystem

Drip systems last about a year. If they don’t freeze Don’t know if you’re a good builder or not, but you are really not a smart landscaper.

I feel like he made this video to get people to react …..😂 Those tiny drip systems are horrible and imo meant to water plants in pots …. They get clogged very easily Also I love Pine bark , smells good good color and cheap I also love installing rock but it starts at 400/yd & up as opposed to mulch around 120/yd Man I need to start making RU-vid content lol

I disagree with the rocks. My rocks collect all sort of debris and leaves that do not blow away

Hi i am an architectural visualizer &3d artist my services 1.landscape design 2.backyard design 3.pool design 4.garden design 5.pergola, gazebo, fire pit, deck,patio etc i want work with your team

Rocks limit your gardening. It’s much harder to move rocks and possibly a barrier to plant flowers. I prefer peat moss as a mulch. It will break with any remaining leaves adding valuable nutrients to the soil. I can see that you are more of landscaper than a gardener. Homes without flowers seem incomplete. There are several annuals ( planted each spring) by seed in mass like zinnias and marigolds. Both are deer resistant and minimal care for the season. As you can see, I’m a gardener. Flowers of different species and color fill my yard.

Thank you !!

Use native plants to support native wildlife, including bees, butterflies, etc.

your mulch areas would look better with edging. not a pro just a diy homeowner 😎

Wrong!! More bark mulch inevitably enriches the soil. Stronger plants create their own weed suppression. Bark also retains water better. Barked beds are also easier to weed.

Though Rocks looks good, when the Sun shines on them, they will becomes very hot & burns your Bushes. Dangerous for creating fire.

If leaves goes in the beds with mulch you can just leave em and they will decompose 😂

Dude your grass is soooo crispy damn bruh

Plant native flora. Eliminate non native. Get a burn done, no lawns. No leaf blowers.

small pebble rocks don’t stay looking good for very long and are extremely expensive and laborious to add more later.

Where is that? Texas? Where water costs more than power for some people?

Tips for landscaping from a contractor, not a landscaper

Rocks >>>>> mulch

Plant native plants, be less concerned about the perceived "mess" ,and stop trying to force a plant culture that is just not natural to your environment, and quit demonizing bugs... stay in your environments natural lane... you'll be much more successful...

When the mulch decomposes weeds can grow on top of the mulch. How fo you prevent that

How about planting the perennials native to your region so the pollinators aren't wiped off the face of America? You have a food desert going on:(

Uhhh rock mulch is for pathways! Lol

Or just do native plants and mulch Easy

Get as many native plants in your yard as possible. Avoid non-native invasive plants.

Imo, earth always looks best. Sure you have to maintain it, but that's why you grow something bigger. Please don't use wood or rocks

Great tips. Thank you for sharing so we know.

Ehat do you do for a job this is inspiring

Why evergreens? Is that due to climate and wanting year round green? I’m in zone 7b and have year round green. Or is there another reason?? (I do not like them or shrubs with thorns)

Make sure the rocks are big enough we made the mistake of small rocks and they blow with the leaves

👍👍👍

Rocks are no good in environments with trees. Monoculture sucks anyway.

Tip 4 rip out all bed and install grass lol

Stop with evergreens. Use indigenous planting.

Maybe just plant native species just a thought you’re a young guy there must be some ecofriendlyness about you

Which evergreens ?

Rock looks “cold” and uninviting