Sadly when I have fungal problems it seems to be all over the area, not just where the pomegranates are, the rock idea would need to be used all over our yard to have a shot at working, a part of me thinks that insects may also spread it from neighboring yards when they chew on the leaves.
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makes sense - I might try this on a few of my outdoor poms
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Never heard of this variety. It would be great if you can get one. If it can survive zone 6 without damage, it will be a great cultivar (or use as root stock). Have you (or someone) tasted the fruit?
That is a local variety found near Swarthmore PA. There is a Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College that often has gardening activities for Philly area.
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JD - just playing ādevilās advocateā here . . . Wherever I use rock as āmulchā it collects a lot of debris, which rots and becomes soil in which weeds grow! This looks nice for awhile . . . but eventually defeats the purpose . . . āKeeping Weeds Outā.
I thought about ārockingā my pomegranates instead of using wood mulch - but anticipated the collection of the dropped blossoms and fungal-infected leaves, etc. in the rock. So . . . . I donāt think it would solve the problem of avoiding harboring fungus. Do you agree? - Karen
I donāt know . . . . maybe NO mulch is the best way to go. And then we could just rake all of the dropped plant material away.
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I donāt know, although I think if you did large rock (riprap) then organic accumulation would be less of an issue - and Iām sure site selection/microclimate makes all the difference. Tinker with lots of things and see what works!
Although, even if the fungal-infected flowers get into the rock, rock should get well above what fungus will survive at. The āsweet spotā for most fungal species is in the mid-80s F.
Iāll admit I was suckered into the dream that Mid-Atlantic pomās work. So far that has not been the case for me. This year Iāve finally wrapped my Suhr Anor, Kazake and Salavatski after refusing to do so previously. Iām zone 6b and have had them die to the ground two years in a row (with no protection), in a sheltered area. They grow 4-6ā during the summer and thrive well. As soon as Winter hits, they absolutely tank. This year I wrapped them in burlap, garbage bagged emā and hoping for the best. They die this year itās eviction time and putting something in that wonāt keep me awake at night.
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I have rock mulch that came with my house. I like it because I can burn the weeds with my torch and not set the mulch on fire like the pine straw. Also I take a leaf blower and blow organic matter off to lessen weed growing
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With this winter I didnāt even bother. Itās hardly been at freezing.
LOL. Again - we have something in common! My husbandās favorite weed irradiation is a blow torch!
I start sweating when he brings it out, tho . . . because of all the ācollateral damageā ! But, normally - it does a decent job. (Heās not allowed near my poms.)
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Yeah Iāve burned some plants leaves getting too close. I try and hand pull close ones but itās very satisfying to watch those weeds wilt from the heat!
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I torched two entire rows of honeyberries early on with the weed torch. Pyromania and plants donāt mix well 
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I didnāt have much luck permanently killing weeds with my torch, but it sure was good after a bad day at the office to get out there and FRY some stuff!
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Couldnāt agree more, the evil smile comes out when the torch comes 
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Ha. I tried some twigs of some experimental cold-hardy poms in massachusetts several years ago.
Someone who wanted to test his hybrids or something sent me four sticks. I put two in commercial potting soil and two in my own compost-enriched soil. Those two promptly rotted. The two in potting soil rooted.
So i planted them outdoors. Neither put on much growth. Admittedly, they didnāt have full sun. (Nothing in my yard really gets full sun.) And i couldnāt find them the next spring.
Iām zone 6. It rarely gets below zero, and Iām not sure itās ever been below -5f in my yard since Iāve lived here. But the ground freezes solid most winters, and code requires foundations to be something like 5 or 6 get deep to reliably be below the frost line. (Which is why every house has a basement. I mean, why not stuff slightly deeper and get useful space.)
And we only have a handful of days above 90F in the summer.
I love poms. But i donāt think this is the place for them.
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I grow them in pots here in zone 5b/6a. I got fruit last year for the first time. Small but delicious!
How large are the pots? Where do you put them in the winter?
I have them in 10,20 and 30 gallon root pouches
I have an attached garage so they are in there with the figs, and other plants that are not hardy here, nigra mulberries, western blackberries etc.
It never gets below 25F in there, has not slipped below freezing yet this year (in the garage itās 25F outside right now).
Here is one I just took a photo of.
Since the temps never go below 25F I can grow any pomegranate. I have a couple dwarf like ones. I figure better for pots. But will grow any for fun.
For now Iām growing
Al Sirin Nor -Bass
Granada
Gissarskii Rozovyi
Hyrdanar X Goulosha
Parfianka
Salavatski
I have high hopes for Granada the earliest fruiting of any pom I know of. Always looking for scion on early ripening types.
Although my garage is near itās limits! I think my oldest pomegranates are going on 5th leaf. Iām losing track of how old they are?
I picked these the last day before frosts. They were ripe and very good! I didnāt take any interior shots. Small fruit, but hey I did it! I may eventually only keep a couple of them. Many of these plants will be culled out. I have way too many!
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You need a 3 car garage, I think.
Thatās a lot of pots!