Red bark mulch is crap.

You heard me - Oh, sure – it looks great when you put it in, but after the elements give their effort (rain, wind, squirrels, the mailman walking through) it starts looking horrible. Thankfully, I wasn’t the one who put it in, that joy was left to the previous owner of the house. At first it wasn’t bad, but it faded in the sun and the squirrels tore at the ground fabric and the bark was always winding up in the grass.

It was time to take action. I would have liked to pour a patio, but the budget didn’t cooperate. The goal was three fold: low maintenance, keep the rocks out of the grass, and to not look like crap.

Before:

112 retaining wall blocks and some pavers for walking:

9,750 lbs. of Western River Rock:

My back hurts, my hands are rough as a man’s hands should be, and hopefully some value was added to the house. It shouldn’t take much upkeep, the retaining wall blocks should keep the rocks out of the grass, and I think it looks pretty good. It only took about 20 man hours, 9 trips to Lowes, came in under budget, and was finished before the baby came. Judge for yourself...