It is amazing what a little weeding, mulching, fertilizing and pruning can do! It's like a makeover for your garden & yard!
You will be amazed at the transformation when you add new mulch everywhere!
My community collects lawn waste, leaves and limbs and transforms them into both wood chips/mulch and compost that is sold for $5 - $10 a pickup truck load. Perhaps your community has this service. If you have a place to dump the load, a wheelbarrow, a pitchfork and a shovel (and the need for a good total body workout!) then you can cheaply mulch your landscape.
Boxwoods are beautiful. There is a Korean boxwood in addition to the more typical species. They can both have some pest issues but are generally easy to care for. I love the un-pruned, flame-like shape of large, old boxwoods.
If you want to make lawn mowing easy then use this simple tip for mulch/bed design: use a long & flexible garden hose(s) to lay out bed lines adjacent to lawns. You can easily move the hose(s) around to suit your design. TIP: decrease lawn and increase mulched area unless you need lawn. Make edges easy to mow around (smooth curves and no difficult edges and corners i.e. non-90 degree intersections.)
One last tip: It can all be overwhelming so just concentrate on one little area or specific project at a time while keeping in mind your greater vision! This is what we do at the botanical garden.
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