A surface layer of stone IS mulch, though not wood-based mulch. Though it, itself doesn't decompose, over time, the spaces between stone mulch fills with soil and other decomposed matter. So if stone is desired here because water can percolate (sideways) through it, that ability will be short lived. It doesn't matter if you use stone mulch or wood-based mulch. A fabric that is covered with 3" of wood-based mulch would be as difficult to pull up as would be one covered with stone. The main difference is that wood decomposes over time ... and turns into soil, which makes it compatible with most gardening and landscaping objectives. Stone mulch on the other hand does not decompose so when one later decides that it's no longer wanted (which eventually happens) it's a BIG job to get rid of it. It grows weeds as well as wood-based mulch. I consider it higher maintenance because the normal plant bits that settle on the surface of the ground can be incorporated or covered with wood mulch, but in a stone mulch bed, they look bad and must be more frequently removed. Likewise, the pond liner seems like a half-baked get-me-by that will not fix the problem long term (if at all) but will be a gigantic impediment to planting. The word formal in landscaping seems to connote a 'Victorian' era planting and arranging style, which is only one aspect of what the word could mean. There are many degrees of how highly organized a planting arrangement can be without engaging that look.

While I would never recommend rocks as mulch for in ground beds, in containers it can be just fine. When we grow in the ground we want the ground to have several desirable properties. We want it to be loose, fertile, retain water adequately, contain a wealth of beneficial soil organisms etc. Of these desirable properties about the only one fulfilled by a rock mulch is water retention via reducing evaporation. Growing in containers is a whole nother story though. In containers nearly anything used for potting mix is going to be looser than in ground soil, nutrients are supplied by our adding fertilizer etc. A mulch whether rock or organic is going to provide a measure of moisture retention by slowing evaporation so I consider it just fine to use and river rock in certain arrangements I think can look teriffic. Since you are asking about containers rather than in ground plantings I can't think of any reason why you shouldn't use it.

Hollingsworth suggests that in a field situation slugs encountering caffeine are more likely to move to other non-treated plants. In the meantime Louise Simms and Dr Michael Wilson of the University of Aberdeen have investigated caffeine on the basis that it is an Âenvironmentally acceptable alternative to metaldehyde and methiocarb (Simms and Wilson, 2002). Caffeine, a natural product, is classified by the US Food and Drug administration as a GRAS (generally recognised as safe). Simms and Wilson presented new data suggesting that caffeine may be a less effective molluscicide than previously thought [due to the sheer amount needed for treatment at the ag scale and resultant effect on receiving waters -D]. In addition, the product was shown to be toxic to three earthworm species at low doses and some phytotoxicity was observed on the plants. [emphases added] Boy, it would sure be nice to know on which plants somebody upthread sprays coffee, so we can avoid phytotoxicity. Don't want dead plants, ya know. Suuuure would be nice... Dan

We have continued to mulch with finely - not coarse - pine bark mulch. At least I think that is what it's called. It is what is sold by garden centers in our area. My DH buys pick up truck loads of it every summer. We tried buying bags but we needed too many bags and I think it was more expensive that way. We are not changing what we use as mulch. The termites are gone now. According to the person who treated around our house, termites in our area need moisture. Without moisture they die. My original question was not for me - I'm not changing my mulch for anything else. It was for conversation purposes that I was going to use to talk to my neighbor. Too late on that front though - a couple of days ago a truck came and delivered 3 ton of large red stone - not lava rock but larger stone. I've never seen anything like it before. She and her DH had it all spread by that evening. So now, I'm just enjoying the conversation going on here in this thread! Linda PS Thank you for the name of company who bags the Super Fines Soil Conditioner. I will look them up and see where they distribute.