Hamburger Helper is a supermarket panacea that extends and livens up ground meat to make a one-dish meal. Mulch helper is a homemade extender for store-bought mulch. Lately I have been using a lot of mulch helper.
I like to use shredded cedar bark mulch from the garden center. It’s not all that expensive–until you have to buy it in bulk. To save money, trips to the garden center and other expenditures of either time or funds, I mix my cedar mulch with the needles that fall from my neighbors’ hemlock in copious quantities. I do a 50/50 split, which means that one bag of mulch does the work of two. You end up with something that smells and looks very much like straight cedar mulch and has the same qualities. I do the same thing for one of my garden consulting clients, mixing aged leaf mold from her backyard pile with cedar mulch. Since funds are tighter there, I do a 70/30 leaf mold/cedar mulch mix. It works well too.
Such solutions can also improve your self esteem, especially if you have neighbors who employ a landscaping crew to mulch their gardens. Whether you are talking clothes or flower beds, there is nothing like looking just as good for a fraction of the price.