Ummm...how is this something that is kept so under wraps? The City of San Diego operates the Miramar Greenery which provides mulch/compost to city residents (proof of residency required) for FREE! Up to 2 cubic yards (= six 32 gallon trashcans!) of compost or mulch can be had for free if you load it yourself into your vehicle.
And if you're not sure to do with that 2 cubic yards of compost or mulch....they've got a nice brochure for that.
Wood chips will cost you a few bucks (18 bucks per cubic yard for the plain chips, and 28 for colored chips) but that's still a lot less than Lowe's. Checking the prices, it would be $89.90 for 2 cubic yards of mulch if you bought it by the bag!
This may make the entire getting rid of the grass thing a lot easier. I purchased some drafting paper and pencils this weekend, now I've just got to get out there and measure all the aspects of our yard.
