I know, weird title, huh. But that should explain the whole thing, personally speaking.
A few months ago, I was able to get a huge pile of mulch, a literally dumptruck worth, for $85, which is beyond cheap. I stole it, basically, and had to pay for delivery, which I'm not going to complain about. I need the mulch as I'm trying to mulch my back yard almost entirely as I don't have grass and am tired of the weeds. So, little by little, I've been moving this veritable mountain of mulch out of my driveway (thank goodness for a lack of an HOA, they'd been having apoplexy right about now with how long it's taken me) and installing it right the first time. Which means yanking out the weeds (by hand), laying down the weedblock fabric (I've already gone through a 100' roll & a 25' roll, and now half-way through a 200' roll), and then moving the mulch bucket by bucket (well, using two of these:
http://www.homedepot.com/Stora...) into the back. I've already mulched in the west side where it was nothing but bare dirt & pea gravel.. looks pretty good if I can say so myself. I also created 2 fenced in areas for some new trees I put in (I put in 3 trees in these areas, a Canadian Chokecherry, a Sunburst Locust, & a Princeton Gold maple, plus a Charles Joly lilac, but I had to include my 1-year old Autumn Purple Ash as my puppy Waffles was constantly digging it up), then started to mulch the east side. I'm laying down the mulch anywhere from 6-8" thick in all places, so there should be plenty of protection from both cold and sun. But it's the shoveling of the mulch into the buckets that's the pain in the butt. Having to use the spading fork to break up the mulch pile, then using a snow shovel to put it into the bucket, then carting the bucket into the back. I moved approximately 4 cubit yards (each 3x3x3ft, so I emptied a section that was about 6' wide, 4' tall, and 8' deep.. I'm not good at math, but that's a lot of mulch
) this way yesterday. I've been able to envision what it's going to look like now for about 2 years, but DH doesn't have that kind of an imagination, so he couldn't figure out what it's going to look like. Well, yesterday evening, he finally was able to see what it is going to look like. I still have a lot of work to do, lots and lots and lots as I have to rip out about 4-5 tons of rock and re-set it, plus put in stepping stones and a sitting area near my pond so I can put my bench there.
But I did get a complement yesterday! We have new neighbors (again) on our west side (rental house) and the grandma told me that my front yard reminded her of her parent's front yard when she was younger.. her father was bed-ridden (this was in the 30s I guess) and, to keep her mom's mind going, they ripped out all the front yard and planted roses and flowers. Then, when her parents passed away, she sold the house and the new owners ripped out all the roses & whatnot and planted grass.
I think that should be against the law or something. :)
But, moving that much mulch always ends up being a very dirty, dusty job. Which is why the mud for boogers and the shower-water ends up turning brown when I wash my hair (I really need a haircut.. it's getting way too long).
