2" of mulch is nothing for here. If I had that bare minimum in my yard, nothing would survive my lack-of-watering & wacky freezes (tonight's our first hard freeze of the year.. got the notice on my phone a few hours ago). And seeing that I did manage to have some roses bloom this year, I believe, thanks to the mulch & rain, I'll just keep the gazillion tons I have. Besides, I do NOT feel like having to move it again.. once was enough! Basically, what I have is a mulch see with plants sticking out here & there. Some areas are thicker than others but I know I haven't lost anyone to the mulch other than they got buried in it & I didn't move the mulch in time (lazy me).