Most people think of mulch as the finishing touch. You spread it in spring, the beds look clean and dark and tidy, and you move on with the season. That part is true, and a fresh layer of mulch genuinely does make a property look cared for. But thinking of mulch as just the cosmetic last step sells it short by a wide margin. In the North Shore climate, mulching is one of the hardest working things you can do for a landscape, and the difference between doing it well and doing it carelessly shows up in how your plants survive the winter, how often you are out there pulling weeds, and how much water your beds actually hold through a hot July.