Succulents as mulch!

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I've been following this discussion about the pro's and cons of mulching, and I personally think the usefulness of mulches will vary by the purpose to which they are put.  I tend to use compost type mulches in newly planted gardens in lieu of bark mulch where the plantings are intended to fill in completely beyond the first year, but will also use a recycled agricultural product for mulching such as Grape Seed compost for a water conserving and weed suppressing organic mulch, that takes much longer to break down than fir bark.  One of the benefits of the Grape Seed compost as mulch is that it is so beautifully dark and fine textured, and helps new plantings to visually "pop" in the landscape, as well as being cheap to use because it is a local waste product from regional vineyards.

I'm linking to a garden I designed for clients here in nearby Alameda, where I literally did use succulents as a living mulch for what used to be a weedy and half dead front lawn.  For initial weed control, I also applied an inch layer of the Grape Seed compost from American Soil Products here in Richmond.  The one downside of Grape Seed compost is that it is never a "clean" material, and has to be sorted through to remove vine stems, roots and plastic vine ties in the mix, if you want it to look pristine.

here's the link to the end result:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/20217462@N02/5595413359/