I love those hinged covers!

Maybe you have more information but as I was looking at different mulches I came upon the rubber mulch. It looks good and is re-using, which is also good. But it does deteriorate over time and then what do you do with it? I envisioned scraping it up and it going in the trash while spent natural mulch can be put most anywhere to decompose. I am lucky that we have an area that has 6"+ of peastone that is going to be removed so that is going in between my beds. It's hard on bare feet but otherwise OK and my garden cart rolls well on it.

Good luck!

free is my middle name,got chips/mulch from a neighbor layed in 6 inches all around my boxes.read a thread that it shouldnt be a issue with termites .most places have some sort of free mulch or chips availible,check parks dept. or street dept ,or your county extension office,ask other gardeners or look on craigs list in your area,guess im the king of scrounge.lol

I don't like the black rubber mulch.
1. It doesn't decompose.
2. I think it will cause the soil to heat up affecting the plants in mid-summer.

Don't use free city mulch. I got one he@# of an infestation of squash bugs last year from it. That is where everybody takes there problem plants and trees/shrubs. Listen for a wood chipper in the neighborhood after a storm. John

Here is a link that might be useful: John's Journal

Thanks for the input, folks. I spent all day driving from store to store. I would have gone with cedar, but all I could find was the finely shredded variety. That just wouldn't work in this spot.

So I went with $6.97/bag course brown rubber mulch from Walmart. It looks just like the $12/bag stuff from Lowes and the $9/bag stuff currently on sale at Home Depot.

To keep it contained, I bought a mess of pavers to use as edging front and back. I'll run the mulch up to the greenhouse on the left and the old shed on the right, so hopefully it comes out looking nice and clean.

I still have to build up and level out the surrounding area with topsoil (up to 24 bags so far, but it's a heck of a lot cheaper than filling low spots with $$$ mulch). The new topsoil will be covered with another layer or two of weed cloth. Between that and the pavers, the mulch should hopefully stay put and not go walk-about throughout the rest of the yard. That should also make it easier to remove should we decide to replace it with something else.

I'll post pictures when I'm done (hopefully tomorrow).

It's going to look gorgeous! Can't wait to see the updated pics. :)

Lessons learned:

1) Topsoil is cheaper than rubber mulch. It took three trips to Lowes/Home Depot and 34 bags of topsoil to level the area (or so I thought).

2) Calculate _exactly_ how much mulch you need, then multiply that by 2 or 3. After adding all of that topsoil I figured I could get by with 12 bags of rubber mulch. Nope. Those low spots really do add up, and quick. Back to Wal-mart for 12 more bags. Close. Back to Wal-mart this morning for 8 more bags. We're getting there. Probably 5 more bags and I'll be happy.

3) I'm sunburned and every joint in my body aches. I'm getting too old for this crap. ;-)

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So much work! But it really looks fantastic. It looks like you took the time to do a great job with the pavers, and they really add the finishing touch to make the whole thing look like a showcase.

I'm so envious!

It looks great! I'm jealous too!! LOL.
You did a wonderful job for your mom :) .

Absolutely gorgeous. Nice work!

Nice job, hope you don't mind if I steel some of your ideas. :)

wow..your garden area is just gorgeous! I love your hinged covers, what a brilliant idea.

sqftsteve, those hinged covers are awesome! Can you tell us how you made them?