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/
