Newbie alert....

Being quite happy with my garden's little show of spring bulbs and with
my pruned bushes actually coming nicely back to life, I'm thinking about
my next move.

I've read in a number of places that mulching the various flower beds
and shrubs is a great thing -- better looking than bare soil, weed
control, moisture retention, etc. So I was preparing to order some bark
when I decided to look around at the gardens in my neighborhood in
Durham and I noticed that hardly any of them are mulched.

Am I missing something? What are the downsides? Why don't others do
it? Maybe I should use this as a way to meet my neighbors?

confused,
Rob