Here in Central Florida our nurseries will sell cypress or other mulch in
bulk, and deliver it as well. I have bought three yards at a time, before I
worked out something with a local arborist. What I have done is make a deal
with a local tree trimming firm, which uses a chipper when downing trees.
Instead of taking their chippings to the land fill, for which they have to
pay, they drop the chips off on my lot, and I share the mulch with
neighbors. I also have a friend who is an extension agent (with a very
large garden on several acres) who deals with the electric company. When
they trim trees along the right-of-way they bring the chips to his property
and he uses them in his garden. He gets about a truckload a week or so, and
keeps the mulch in his garden beds at about 12" deep, even in his citrus
grove. The plants respond vigorously, and he has no weed problems.

In Palm Beach County, the best profesional arborist company there dumps his
wood chips on space he owns, free to anyone who wants to pick it up. Palm
Beach County also operates a recycling compost facility which combines wood
chips and treated sewage into compost that is available to any PBC resident
for free pickup. I know that some northern areas (Arlington, VA, used to)
have compost/mulch facilities to recycle wood material. You may want to
check with your city or county, or the extension service to find out what's
available, and local nurseries for bulk delivery.

If you're able to make a deal with a local arborist, make sure the tree
trimmers know you want brown wood chips, not a lot of green leafy stuff, and
no palm trees.

"JohnH" wrote in message
...
Here (Rochester NY), the local garden center is selling 3 cubic foot
bags of Canadian cedar or hardwood mulch for about $4.00. Each bag
covers about a 5x10 foot area of my garden beds. Find a garden center
where you can actually speak to the owner or manager, and see if you
can make a deal for LOTS of bags.

I like the idea of going ahead and making a path.

Some city landfills offer low-grade mulch free for the taking. You might
check into that where you live too.