Consider skipping the mulch for around the tree and look for some nice perennial ground cover plants. There are so many varieties to choose! You'll need only about 6-8 plants and they will spread and fill in nicely for you. Works well for me with my flower beds. I find that mulch these days doesn't last but one year so who needs this expense? Your lawn looks very lush!

I tried crepe myrtle but it didn’t really take off.

Crepe Myrtle is a tree, so you probably had something else. I would do some sort of perennial, maybe hostas. You might also get an arborist to prune that tree nicely. Mulch is often local; my favorite is pine straw. Avoid anything colored: they look fake. Cedar is nice.

Sorry creeping myrtle. It’s a ground cover is what I tried.aka vinca minor. Agreed. I don’t like the fake look either.

Others to consider are creeping phlox, dead nettle and hosta.

If Vinca minor failed not much else would succeed. Perhaps you were expecting it to spread as fast as an annual might in one season. It should cover the area but being a semi woody perennial it will make a slower start.

What is the stuff we can see growing in the bed at the moment?

That’s a real nice brick sidewalk. Do you think a sharp new edge would help with the flooding? It does look as though the sidewalk has sunk a bit with the grass creeping onto it.

Trenching the grass/dirt along the sidewalk might help a bit and make your sidewalk look more manicured.

Vinca takes some time to get going and then no problem As for mulch it breaks down into dirt and then grows weed even faster . I would suggest you do a dry river to handle the water they look nice and do the job.

The stuff growing is some myrtle and weeds. We were gone for awhile in Arizona and when we came back weeds were out of control. I’ve had the myrtle there for about 5 years. The first year is spread nicely, each year it has done worse.

How about creating a new garden bed next to the walkway (or on both sides?) planted as a native rain garden? There are lots of plants that will thrive in wet conditions.

Always use undyed mulch.

Agreed. Thanks for all the input

Dark brown (earth colored) looks most natural.