Mulch, Mulch, and More Mulch!

Spring has arrived early in North Carolina, not that we had much of a winter!  Only one snowfall, which was so light it accumulated only on the grass, and no drastically cold temperatures made it one of the mildest winters on record.  But SPRING has arrived!  The Bradford pear trees are in full bloom, and although they are strikingly beautiful draped in white flowers, their fragrance is quite awful.  We have nine of these popular trees along the edges of our yard, so it's not exactly pleasant to be outside right now.  The temperatures have been soaring into the mid 80's, way above normal for this time of year, but we'll take it!
Our gardens were mostly neglected last year due to my back injury and surgery, so we have undertaken to spread pine bark mulch on them.  Last Friday we had 20 cubic yards of mulch delivered, and it filled almost all of the driveway.  That's one whole dumptruck full of mulch!  Bob had a friend come over and help spread it on Saturday, and it was a grueling process.  Weeds had to be pulled first.  The mulch had to be shoveled into a wheelbarrow and then dumped and spread.  We worked about six hours Saturday and spread about 2/3 of the mulch.  We worked another three hours Sunday afternoon.  Bob's friend came on Monday when I was at work and wheelbarrowed most of the remaining mulch to the perennial gardens, but in the process covered low-lying branches, weeds, and plants.  That evening and the next, I had to uncover what shouldn't have been covered and pull the weeds that had gotten buried, as well as pull off mulch that had been dumped too deep.
With that done, Bob and I attacked the perennial garden on our back slope last evening, hacking away and removing dandelions and other weeds.  The bed is now ready to be mulched.  Bob is going to order another 20 cubic yards of mulch for spreading this weekend.  This second truckload should complete the row of azaleas along the side of the yard, the perennial garden on the slope, and the shade garden we're trying to establish. 
Mulch holds in moisture and keeps out weeds, but if the weeds aren't pulled first, they simply grow through the mulch -- unless it's a foot deep.  Weeds remind me of sin in our lives -- they grow where they're not wanted and set down deep roots unless we get rid of them while they're small.  There's always a lesson to be learned from nature; God's lessons are everywhere.  We simply need to open our eyes to the wisdom He has incorporated into his creation.