The Return of the Sedan?

[Max Rockatansky]

Converting a yard to rocks isn't super difficult.

It is in that part of the country. Prairie weeds are pretty aggressive about trying to establish themselves. I had a planter in Oklahoma I wasn't using so I wanted to just convert it to rocks. Put plastic down, put the rocks down...the weeds grew anyway and just punched holes in the plastic.

The plastic will hold up for maybe a year before it starts breaking down.  Once the plastic breaks down a lot of feeds can puncture through it.  Actual weed block holds up way longer, especially if it is stapled down and isn't exposed anywhere to the sun. 

A really cheap way to convert a yard would be just layer it in a three-inch-deep trench of mulch.  The problem with that is the mulch will dry out and shrink.  If it shrinks enough the ground underneath will start getting sun again and weeds begin growing. 

[ZLoth]

For someone who talks a lot about tight budgeting I'm kind of surprised you use a yard service.

My mother pays for the yard service. However, it is only used for part of the year when the lawn isn't dormant. When the leaves fall, I'm the one who does a half-decent job of raking them up and putting them into bags. My home seems to be the neighborhood leaf magnet. Then, I contact the yard service for the final clean-up.