Question
QUESTION: I don't want any plants in front of my house. Had them and mulch once.
Also had snakes hiding amongst it.
So I removed everything!  Put down landscape fabric and rock, it looked great. Then came fall and all the leaves, then spring and more tree shedding.  What a MESS!!!!! Obviously all natural debris  turned to soil, giving base for weeds to come up between the rock.  
I can't have gutters, I'm not able to clean them out.
Any suggestions?  I thought about artificial  turf and a french drain, but not sure how to allow drainage through the turf.  I'm honestly more concerned  about none to low maintenance. I'm disabled  and not getting any younger.  Thank you

ANSWER: Hello,

Depending on the size of the area involved, you might want to consider just laying down a solid paved surface such as concrete or asphalt or a surface of mortared stone or gravel or just use a periodic spraying of herbicide on the area.

Mark Harshman

For more comprehensive help check out my website at:

http://www.prestoexperts.com/expert/markland

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: How about artificial turf?  Expensive ?  Would it hold up With roof rain pounding on it?
3' by 12' roughly.  Again, tried the gravel.  Leaves and debris on top was a mess!   Had to take it all back up. That was a job!  My health is not great.
Got to find something  with little to no maintenance.
I also thought about a mat like ground cover for sunny areas. But I don't know much about them. It MUST be something  very short. Can't have a possible  place for snakes to hide, again.
I really hate snakes.  All of them!!!
Thanks again!  
Concrete would be too hard to do, and I'd still have the run off to worry about.
I hope to have a sidewalk in front of this area one day.  This area is between house and where sidewalk  will be. It's the distance of the steps coming out.

Answer
Hello,

Here is a list of options:

Regular artificial turf installed over a gravel subbase to aid drainage and increase stability and with holes punched in the material for drainage.

Permeable artificial turf installed over a gravel subbase. Since you have such a large amount of water coming from the roof,you would get much better drainage with this option.

Low growing ground covers are available, such as bugleweed. They must be dense enough to displace weeds.

The cost for artificial turf for this area would be approximately 200 dollars.


Mark Harshman

For more comprehensive help check out my website at:

http://www.prestoexperts.com/expert/markland