Rose beds with light gravel look particularly elegant. But gravel is not the best option for the rose garden. Find out below the advantages and disadvantages of gravel in the rose bed and what other materials you can use to cover your rose bed decoratively.
Is it recommended to cover a rose bed with gravel?
Covering a rose bed with gravel offers visual benefits and can retain moisture in the soil. However, gravel can heat up and cause stress for some roses. Alternatives include bark mulch or ground cover, which keep weeds away and are aesthetically pleasing.
The advantages and disadvantages of gravel
Gravel looks pretty, without question. It also retains moisture in the soil without affecting soil quality or pH. And since a weed fleece is laid under the gravel layer, the weeds stay away and the rose bed is therefore easy to care for, right?
Unfortunately, that's exactly not the case in the long term. Although the weed fleece prevents weeds from growing out of the ground, wind and birds carry seeds from above onto the rose bed and weeds can sprout happily. In the long term, gravel does not save you having to pull out weeds.
Another disadvantage is that gravel heats up. Although this can be an advantage in spring, it means stress for the roses on hot summer days. Only heat-tolerant rose varieties should be covered with gravel. You can find out what these are in this article about roses in the stone bed. If your roses can tolerate heat and you are willing to pull weeds regularly (don't spray carcinogenic weedkillers, which cause significant, lasting damage to both you and the environment), you can easily cover your rose bed with gravel. It works like this:
Covering the rose bed with gravel: instructions
- First lift off a few centimeters of soil and level the ground.
- Dig the planting holes for your roses and enrich them with fresh garden soil.
- Spread the weed fabric and cut holes where the roses or their companion plants will be planted.
- Place your roses sufficiently deep in the soil. More about that in this post.
- Set the bed border.
- Apply five to eight centimeters of gravel.
The alternatives: bark mulch and ground cover
Bark mulch is often seen on rose beds. Experts disagree about whether it has a beneficial or negative effect on soil quality. Bark humus or ground cover is certainly better than bark mulch. Ground cover plants do take a little more work because they need to be supplied with water every now and then, but they reliably keep weeds away and also bloom beautifully. You can find a selection of the most beautiful ground cover plants for your rose garden here.
Tip
Combine ground cover and gravel!
