First time poster in this group. Hope this isn't the most redundant
question. If so, I apologize in advance.

Looking for some advice on how best to prevent weed growth in our garden. I
am looking at two options, maybe someone could suggest other alternatives.

So far, I weeded the flower bed. The bed is about 30 ft long and about 3
feet wide with no shrubs in the way.

Option 1
Plant the flowers such as dahlias, marigolds and geraniums.

Add mulch around the bed to minimize weed growth.

(I've done that in the past and found that over time some of the mulch
spreads and thins out and weeds still manage to pop through.)

Option 2
Lay a sheet of weed stopper on top of the soil and then cut holes to plant
the flowers. (I guess I could simply put down newspaper and save a few
dollars.)

Afterwards, add mulch to hide weed stopper material.

Even though I might use a roll of the 10 year weed wall material I would
have to remove it in the Fall because I have tulip bulbs planted for the
next Spring.

Would rather not have to put the weed stopper material on the garden, but
really don't want to spend time weeding again either. Anything I could do
beside just adding the mulch to prevent the weeds from popping through?