Does River Rock Attract Bugs?

Are you considering installing river rock at your home or place of business, but before finalizing your decision, you're wondering - does river rock attract bugs? 🐛

(By the way, if you're on the fence about whether river rock is right for you, check out what we wrote about over here - River Rock Landscaping Stone)

Well, up until recently, I was wondering the same questions as well!

So I went down a rabbit hole of sorts, searching YouTube, Googling, and even taking a trip into my backyard to investigate, and came to a decisive conclusion.

River rock does not attract bugs.

❌🐛 River rocks do not attract bugs anymore than what would normally exist in your backyard.

Now, it's important to note that every yard, no matter how "clean" it is from pesticides, sprays, and/or maintenance, will always have some type of bugs inhabiting the area.

That's a good thing, though! Bugs are an extremely important component to any ecosystem, including your river rock landscaping.

Here's a pro-tip that will prevent bugs even more. Before installing your river rock, first laydown landscape fabric beneath the river rock but on-top of the soil. This will create a barrier to prevent insects already in the ground from inhabiting your beautiful river rock.

Before you go, make sure to check out our river rock run-down and also consider our material on river rock sizing.