There was a thread just like this last spring or summer. Do a search and i'm sure you'll find it and see the debate that raged. :)

I keep an 18" wide and deep buffer of gravel between my beds and my house. For several reasons- to make for easy access, provide a splash guard with rain (we don't have gutters) and to keep wood away from the foundation of the house. I do use it to put pots of plants sometimes that i'm holding for whatever reason. It's especially nice in winter to snuggle the pots up close for some protection.

The last bit of research I read said that termites are much more attracted to cardboard laying on the ground than wood chips or even boards. Their favorite food is cellulose which is just the fiber from wood, but when it is chewed up into tiny bits (like cardboard or paper) it is more attractive to them.

Tell all the fallen trees in the woods that termites are not attractive to them. Hardwood mulch should not be used up close to the foundation of any house or it will likely be a lure to them to approach a house. In your zone, pine straw should be just fine to serve as a mulch for any brugs that you might grow. They return fine for me here in zone 7a in NC with just that as a mulch. No need for anything further for protecting them in your zone 8. Don't grow colocasias so really can't comment on them as far as what is required for their survival in your zone.

My oh my! It never occurred to me to search for mulch threads. Apparently this debate has been raging forever! After doing much reading, there still doesn't seem to be conclusive proof that it's safe to use hardwoods -- chipped or shredded -- around a foundation. I'm wondering though about shredded bark mulch. Anybody care to comment on shredded bark vs pine straw?

Cannacrazy,
Common sense would tell me that it would probably be a good thing not to place natural wood anything right up next to my foundation.
So, I bought bags of that rubber mulch at Home Depot, placed that right up next to my foundation, a couple feet of it, and then I used the natural pine mulch to the end of my foundation bed.
You can't tell it's rubber. It's the same color as the regular pine mulch.
I know it's rubber though.
The termites know it's rubber too! LOL
I do like the idea of stones though, I didn't think of that. Cool idea!
Good Luck!

Some people seem to think that bark mulch is not attractive to termites so I was hoping that some southern gardeners could confirm or dispute this theory. I've never tried the rubber mulch but it looks pretty cool. Don't know if it has any value around plants, however? Have you used the rubber around any of your plants?
I wouldn't recommend stones for landscaping. They look real nice until the grass starts growing in around them. We put river rock and stepping stones along a path with a barrier underneath and the grass always finds a way to poke through. We had the same problem at another house that had been landscaped with rocks. It looked real pretty until the grass got out of control and I had to remove all those rocks and what seemed like miles of plastic...not to mention all the rocks that mixed in the dirt while I was planting!

The rocks can look great, but you might have to plan for regular use of round-up at some point to keep the weeds out. In my area, eventually the clay eats the rocks and you have to replenish. In my yard, plastic and landscape fabric does not deter really determined weeds like bermuda.

I think the rubber mulch is similar to the rocks - inert as far as the plants go but lasts about indefinitely until the soil swallows it and you need more. I don't know if it grows weeds at the same rate as rocks - some plants really prefer gravelly soil and will grow in a driveway better than a bed.

You either have to put a very thin layer of gravel or mulch on top of landscape fabric (or plastic) so that it stays very dry which reduces the amount of weed seeds that sprout, or you have to build up a deep layer of fluffy mulch/soil so that weeds are easy to pull out, or you have to change/clean out your gravel bed every winter. There is no easy way to be weed free - even with chemicals.

My gravel strip is about a foot deep. I don't get too many things sprouting in it, but what does is easily pulled. I've never sprayed mine. Now, our driveway is nowhere near that deep (from 3/4- 3") and stuff sprouts in it- esp along the edges- all of the time.

A foot deep?! Wow, that's a lot of rocks! Is this just a decorative area for placing your potted plants? That would be a perfect fix for the drip area along my house since we have no gutters but it would sure take a lot of rocks. It would also discourage me from planting anything along that line! I wonder what kind of termite barrier it provides?

I don't know as for the termites- but that was one reason we did it. I was hoping to dissuade them.

It may be more like 10" than a foot, but it's fairly deep. I didn't want weeds germinating and i wanted to channel water away from the foundation, so the bottom of it is packed clay that slants away from the house. The deeper side that is next to the beds is about a foot, the shallower side next to the house maybe 8"? I wanted that excess water in my beds to water my plants. It's been a long time since we put it in. It's only about 18" wide, too- about the width of the overhang- we put it right where the drip line for the roof is. So you're talking an area about 18"x 50' x an average of 10" deep- that's not tons of gravel. Regular grey gravel is cheap, and we just went to the quarry and got it bulk, so the quantity of rock really wasn't an issue.

It's not so much a decorative thing for potted stuff (though i do use it as a holding area) as it is easy access behind my beds and to the windows for maintenance. We also really, really like the way it prevents splash back for getting on the house so much - before we did that we would have a mess every time it rained on the lower portion, which is light siding for part of it. During the drought we installed 2 rain barrels in it, so now it's not quite as nice since the path is broken up, but it still helps.