My love/hate relationship with Mulch

SO, one of the big projects last weekend was tackling the leaves and the flower (or plant) beds. Not much grows in our front yard. We have a creek that runs through it, and the bugs will eat anything pretty that is planted. We also had a pipe burst under the driveway in November, so there is now a huge trench that has been filled with dirt and runs from the street to the house....very attractive. So, as if we didn't already have a challenge with our front yard, now we have a protruding trail of mud. WONDERFUL.

So, Patty and I picked up 30 bags of mulch this weekend, thinking that would be enough. We raked all the leaves, trimmed bushes, ripped out all the weeds and these horrible weeping plants along the front walkway. This took us hours and hours. Finally, we were able to lay the mulch. They were 60lb bags, and half of them were soaking wet! Needless to say, I could barely move on Saturday night after carrying all 30 bags, and I don't care if I ever see another bag of mulch again. I will say that it makes a huge difference though! I couldn't believed how great it looked. The pics don't even do our hard work justice. Of course, I have some 'before and afters'...they're my favorite!

FRONT WALKWAY BEFORE:

FRONT WALKWAY AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER: