Buying mulch: bags or bulk?

[Dood]

I need to mulch my flower beds this weekend. I like the convenience of the bags from Home Depot or K-Mart, but I'm sure the cubic-yard scoops are cheaper. And I guess I could use the exercise of loading it into my wheelbarrow and hauling it across the lawn.

Anyone have opinions on which is the better value?

 

[murphy55d]

Doesn't your local recycling place/area/thing have free compost/mulch?

The one around here lets you fill up a pickup truck full for free.

 

[Parrotheader]

We're doing the same thing tomorrow. There's a hardware/contractor's store around here with half a cubic yard for about $5. I don't know how that compares to the bag prices. I think it's a slightly better deal. I may pay a little extra for the bags though since I won't have to back a pickup truck all over my front yard. I've done the wheelbarrow right before and it's a lot more work than you might think if you have a big natural area (we do.) That way, I can just spread the bags out individually and rip them open from there.

I also get to clean out our nasty little pond in the front yard. That's always my favorite chore of the spring. By this time it's crammed full of leaves and God knows what sort of life forms. Oh joy.