"Neil" wrote in message ...
I like it as is also, but the strip in question eats over 5 truckloads of
mulch a year. Too much for me to put down.


I though you wanted to improve the area, not decrease your investment in
time. As others have said, there isn't anything short of mulching the area
that is going to be less effort unless you decide to abandon it and let
nature take its course. Newly planted shrubs and perennials will need to be
watered for at least the first year or two. You would have to weed the
areas with ground cover until it becomes mature and even then you would have
to remove the odd thistle and sapling. Perennials generally need to be dug
and divided every three to five years. Shrubs and perennials don't live for
ever and will have to be replaced occasionally. Some plants need to be kept
under control of they will take over a space. All this would involve more
effort and skill than mulching the area and it would be far more expensive.
You said that you got the wood chips for free. I would suggest that you
hire a couple of teenagers or day laborers to spread the wood chips. That
wouldn't be too expensive and would require no skill. Even at that, I can't
believe that you would have to mulch more often than every other year.