I can't get rid of our lava rock, unfortunately, but I'm wondering if anyone can help me figure out how to deal with the weeds? My husband and I just moved into a rental home with a lava rock yard in front. Not our favorite landscaping choice, but the rest of the house is nice. Landlords are not open to letting us change it, and after the first rains of the season (N. California -- East Bay) a billion weeds sprung up. I have spent a couple sessions trying to pull them by hand, but it is really impossible to get them up through those rocks (and there is some sort of black plastic tarp underneath, that is not in good shape). Can anyone offer suggestions? I am almost 7 months pregnant, so I can't really get down there to do too much more hand weeding right now, and I'd rather not use anything horribly toxic. Landlords expect us to keep up the landscaping appearance, so we need to do something soon. Thank you!!

Wow, thanks so much, all! We lived so long in the partial remodel we got so used to rock walls and cherry paneling (and furniture to match). edeevee: it was a challenge to combine all the old furniture without buying too much new (two chairs). We ended up with a lot of warm undertones (derived from the paneling) that we had to try to blend with some grey ones (from the rest of the house). kiki_thinking: I think your wall will turn out just fine. We did a little paint washing on the most offensive rocks, but we also had lava rock in the mix that there was no other fix for. It was messy and cost a whole lot more than expected to fix that wall of rock. After tear down, we were left with a pile of bricks.

Msgirl asked very good questions that I always learn from her. Sam, thank you for the reply. Looking at Hawaii's rose park: vivid & deep color, indicative of DEEP & fertile soil rich in volcanic ash. Plus roses in public parks are GRAFTED on Dr. Huey which can reach deep below for nutrients. Chicago Botanical Gardens' hybrid-tea roses are grafted. Even with their loamy fluffy soil: their Old Garden Roses (most are own-roots) can't go down deep ... and their blooms become 1/2 size in our record-rain this year, due to calcium & nutrients leaching. It's worse in my heavy clay, only 1 foot of top soil, below is ICKY sub-clay that no plants can grow, not even weeds. With wimpy own-roots, really tiny like alfalfa sprouts, in 1-foot-soil, and 40 inch. of rain, plus 32 inch. of snow per year ... that will leach out nutrients UNLESS solid stuff is added on top. I see own-roots like babies: if they are really tiny like Jude the Obscure, they can't handle solids, and have to be spoon-fed constantly with tiny, diluted amount of SOLUBLE fertilizer ... tiny roots can't hold much at one time, and die if too much is given. That's why slow-released organics, low NPK 2-1-2 & low-salt like alfalfa works well with own-roots. Re-mineralization on top works for own-roots, since they can't reach deep down. Even with aggressive own-roots like Romantica French roses: it's thick & woody surface roots, rather than a straight stick down like Dr. Huey. Frederic Mistral died after many years in my garden, when I dug that up, thick & woody, but within the top 6" of soil ... I put 1 bag of sand, 1 bag of organics, and 2 bags of top soil. The soil is deep & fluffy & loamy soil ... it's just the nature of the root expanding across, rather than a straight stick down like Dr. Huey. Mirandy is known to survive zone 5a for decades, when I killed it on purpose, the root was a straight-stick deep down, very much like Dr. Huey. Dr. Huey is a huge & woody straight-down stick. He doesn't need to be fed nor watered that often. Dr. Huey is so aggressive that within one month of planting, it reached deep down to the sub-clay beneath, I broke 1/4 of Dr. Huey when I dug up Pink Peace ... but the rose was perky after I re-planted. So re-mineralization is NOT needed for Dr. Huey, he can extend 4 feet across to steal water and nutrients from elsewhere. I spent 1 and 1/2 hour killing Dr.Huey rootstock. Yes, the root extended that far: 4 feet across, and at least 2 feet deep. Someone in Colorado reported killing Dr. Huey, and 5-years later, it sprouted again. My neighbor spent $$$ to have a tree chopped down, but they did not dig up all the roots. Few years later, I saw a bunch of shoots where the tree was chopped off. My zone 5a is infested with ugly, tall Dr. Huey take-overs . Homeowners don't have the time to kill Dr. Huey.

Lisa thank you for explaining the short garden. I would not use any rock as a top layer and if I was forced to do so lava rock would be my last choice. River rock is better looking in my opinion. It looks like others have described why it is not a good idea so I will just say I agree with their reasons. There is even a new term in landscaping, it is called gravel regret. I don't know how your parents found their designer or how skilled he is. For all I know it may be your parents who suggested lava rock. If they are determined to have it, black would be my choice. Even if your parents were young and agile I would still like to see the tall shrubs removed. It is not a good look. To make things even easier they could remove the sheared shrubs. The house is so nice, it does not need dressing up and I think ground cover and a few other plants would be all that they need. If you find it is the designer who suggested lava rock then I think you should examine the whole design. You can not have faith in a designer who would make such a suggestion.