Time to Learn How to Clean Landscape Rocks!
Rock mulch that has been in use for several years can hold large amounts of blown-in dirt, organic matter, and other debris. So it requires some periodic cleaning.
Sometimes this area can be cleaned out using a leaf blower, but eventually the build-up will happen again. Cleaning the rock mulch is hard work, but less work than replacing the rocks altogether.
Steps for Cleaning Landscape Rocks
Use a leaf blower to push as much debris out of the rocks as possible.- Dig down to confirm if landscape fabric or plastic sheeting is below the rocks. Use a hose without a nozzle and flood the rocks with water, letting the water carry debris out of the rocks.Washing works well with landscape fabric or plastic under the rocks. If you do not have the fabric or plastic washing the rocks in the flower or garden bed could over saturate the soil and cause root rot.
- For stained rocks, shovel the rocks into a wheelbarrow or buckets. It maybe necessary to filter debris from the rocks.You’ll want to work in small sections. Fill the buckets or wheelbarrow half full or less with rocks, so you’ll still be able to lift and carry them. Use a sprayer hose to clean rocks.
- Fill the rock containers with water. If your rocks are still stained after you rinse them with the sprayer, you could add 1 part household bleach to 2 parts water to cover the rocks for the washing. If using bleach in the water, please don’t dump it on vegetation!
How to Clean Boulder Rocks
- Use a broom to remove any loose dirt.
- Rinse using a garden hose to wash off mud.
- Scrubbing the rocks with vinegar and a scrub brush will remove algae and moss.
- Re-rinse rocks after scrubbing with a garden hose.
No need to clean your rocks very often; an annual or bi-annual cleaning will suffice. Ryno Lawn Care is available to provide nice garden landscaping stones, rocks, as well as boulders for your garden, Call now for a free estimate.
Link to the PDF – How To Clean Landscape Rocks
Related Link: Stepping Stone Walkway Ideas
6 Responses
I’ve been thinking about adding some rocks to jazz up my landscape. However, I wasn’t sure how much maintenance was needed. Anyone know how long you can let these go before you have to clean them? I don’t want them to look dirty, but I also don’t want to spend too much time cleaning rocks. I think that’s one area that might keep me from adding rocks to the landscape.
Annual or bi-annual cleaning will suffice
Thanks for pointing out that we could use a hose to flood the rocks with water and carry out the debris. I will definitely keep this in mind to keep the landscape clean. We don’t have one yet on our property, but we will hire experts soon to design it. We also needed this information because we wanted more rocks since it really looks modern and cool for us.
Good topic. Lucky me I recently found your site by accident (StumbleUpon). I’ve bookmarked it for later, I’m into rock landscaping design that I read from now I so eager to redecorate our backyard.
We’ve definitely let ours go for too long, but we have it all the way around our house! Our problem is the stuff growing in the rocks. Lots of wild violets and even more invasive ground cover. How do we deal with that?
I did basically the same thing, just a little different. I had a metal framed table that the glass top was missing from. I put expanded metal on top for the screen material. I can put the wheel barrow under it to catch the fines. It saves some shovel work. Good idea and great video. It is a lot of work though. I can save on gym membership for a while!