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1.) Do you add chocolate or peanut butter chips to the batter prior to baking?
2.) When done baking, should you frost them?
In the gardening world, the compost are the chips and the mulch is the frosting.
It’s the compost that “sweetens” the garden soil. It needs to be infused and mixed into the soil, just like the chips need to be mixed in the batter. And like those chips, a little goes a long way. You don’t need a ton of it to make your plants thrive. Compost is the gardeners “black gold”. The nutrients are constantly being leached into the soil. When rain washes through the compost, tons of Nitrogen and Carbon are washed downward improving the soil quality.
But the mulch? It’s the icing on the cake. Like a thicker frosting, mulch is bulkier than compost and tends to stay in place more than compost would. It spreads easily, covers and protects your soil and plant roots from extreme temperatures, helps retain moisture and suppresses weeds and disease. Beyond all this, it does look good….for a time.
What I don’t like about mulch…
2.) The dyes that are sometimes added to it that leach into the soil
3.) Certain varieties are particularly icky like the shredded tire mulch that is sometimes colored, sometimes not. Ugly either way!
4.) It takes forever to break down, okay when you’re blocking weeds in the “round the house” landscaping, but not ideal in the garden beds.
My Modest Proposal?
- Skip the mulch entirely. I know! If you want to suppress weeds, your best bet is too smother them with cardboard and newspaper. Dump some compost on top of your soil, work in, lay down your combo of cardboard and newspaper and drop some more compost on top.
- Honestly – I think compost looks better than the mulch anyhow! It’s dark, rich and retains that dark color throughout the summer. Jammed packed with disease fighting organisms and essential nutrients, it’s always feeding your soil. Compost also stabilizes pH levels.
- Compost is cheap to buy and free to make! We (okay fine Tom) got a whole trailer full of compost for $30. But of course we also make our own. Remember: Compost is only organic matter. You can’t use it as fill dirt because eventually compost will break down and go away, leaving a hole.
- Some wonderful items to compost are leaves, garden plants, newspaper, grass clippings, manure, straw, and kitchen scraps. The compost pile is the ideal place for all those vegetable and fruit peelings, eggshells, dryer lint, coffee grinds and tea leaves. Once these items decompose, you’ll get a mixture resembling humus with that wonderful dark and crumbly texture.
- Like mulch, a thick layer is better than a thinner one to help keep sunlight from emerging weeds.
- Add 2 to 4 inches of compost to your gardening/vegetable beds and work into the soil either by hand tilling or a rototiller if you have one.
- Add your newspaper and/or cardboard to suppress weeds. Dump another 2 to 4 inches of compost on top.
- If possible (and if you have the time) it’s nice to add additional layers of compost every month or so during the summer and fall.
How to use Compost
It doesn’t matter what your current soil conditions are…compost is going to enrich it. Whether it’s excessively heavy and compact or too loose and sandy, compost will help. It breaks up heavy clay soil like mine and helps it drain better. In sandy soil, compost helps retain the water so it doesn’t drain nearly so fast, giving those plant roots a chance to absorb moisture.
In fact, when compared to wood mulch, compost has a lower carbon to nitrogen ratio meaning…it’s a better quality fertilizer than wood mulch as it decomposes! Yay.
Have you mulched yet? Would you consider using compost as a substitute for mulch?
When I originally commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and
now each time a comment is added I get several emails with the same comment.
Is there any way you can remove me from that service?
Thank you!
Hmmmm. I have no idea! Can you go back and next time you comment, uncheck that box? I agree….that would be annoying =) If not, let me know and I’ll get on it!
I have mulched and just hoping it goes away slowly so we can just do without it. It hasn’t really blocked the weeds too well either. I think for our yard compost isn’t necessary though.
We like using pine straw, which works fairly well.
We use compost on our gardens and it is like magic dust for our plants!
Yes, compost has all the nitrogen and nutrients to keep gardens healthy
I dont have a garden
Our sandy soil is dandy for growing just about anything. I have been surprised.
Using newspapers and paper in your compost to suppress weeds is a good idea.
Love getting my hands saturated with God’s sweet soil❣️
I used to help my mom and I remember all those newspapers, wish I had paid more attention to what she was doing in her garden!
I usually have no luck with gardening but I gave it a shot and I have baby peppers and baby bell peppers
I am putting mulch down in my rose bed. Thank you for the tips.
thanks for the great ideas!!!
mulch, love gardening
Thank you for the great idea! We are going to try this with our next project.
I prefer compost
You always have the best advice!
We love tomatoes. Thank you for the information.
I would use both mulch and compost in different areas of the garden and at harvest, see which did a better job
I LOVE the dark, rich color of compost…it looks luxurious. Too bad mulch fades…that looks nice when it is first put down.
cool
This is a great post! I’m moving into a new house and have never been able to plant anywhere else I’ve lived. GREAT tips, now I won’t have to guess!
I love a medium to dark mulch but my step dad does all the yard work. I didn’t think mulch was as simple it is just mulch lol.
My husband does all of the mulching here. He does all the outside work.
Gardening is my happy place. Thank you for this opportunity.
Love learning from your articles.
I’ve never thought about using anything but mulch before! We’ve already put ours down but I’m keeping this in mind for next year!
great article
I have mulched in the past but after reading this article I might try to use compost instead.
I use some much around my flowers and I know it helps with moisture.
I need to mulch more, this is some great information on how to do it all thank you
Good information on the difference between compost and mulch! We compost our own materials because our soil is so clay filled and nothing grows without adding it to our garden. I did pay attention to my great grandmother who taught me about newspaper and cardboard to battle the weeds and I love how it works so well! Thanks for the thoughtful timely post!
Great blog post! Thanks much!
I prefer mulch
I mulch every year. Looks so pretty.
I buy mulch every year for flower garden cover and to keep the moisture in. I am now rethinking this. Thanks for the info.
Thanks for explaining the difference
Yes, I am using compost instead of mulch and it’s marvelous! We’ve been making and using large quantities of compost over the past 4-5 years and not only has the soil improved, but the earthworm population has been increasing and thriving!
Probably should use more compost, but generally we do use both is our gardens.
We can’t compost in our area. Too many bears!
I don’t have a garden but if I did, I would probably use compost.
I’m a garden lover, watching my plants come to life and provide myself and hubby a great salad, is awesome.
Great ideas, love your blog
I agree about mulch. It has to be replaced every year, and loses it’s color so fast.
I would definitely switch from mulch to compost!
I think compost is best, but tend to do more mulch because it seems easier!
I haven’t mulched yet but yes after reading this I would definitely consider it. I loved this.
Mulch is extremely important. A neighbor always adds fish fertilizer to her vegetable garden and her crops are amazing!
We use compost for our gardens and the plants LOVE the nutrients.
Compost is best
I love to garden but I have never made compost. good tips
i love all this information!!!
thank you!
I love to start composting. Thank you so much for the valuable information.
I agree with the tired looking mulch statement. I prefer mushroom compost for my beds.
I like to use compost when I garden .
I’ve never thought much about the difference.
Thank you for such great gardening tips and ideas!
My father in law has a family garden and I believe he uses mulch.
It sounds like mulch is artificial and bad for the Earth while compost is real and will become part of the Earth in due time.
First time using compost. Excited to see the results!
We usually use mulch. Lots of great info in this article thanks!
I also prefer using compost in the garden vs mulch.
Excellent tips.
I have a vegtable garden and I use compost.
Love Bonsai !
I have used mulch and I love it. I would love to use compost as mulch. I need to invest in a tumbler for the compost
I was putting mulch down in my garden when my contact lens popped out. It was hard to find lol. #mulch
I still get weeds with mulch. Boy, am I sick of weeding and back aching.
I used compost when I was younger. I no longer garden because of bad back and age.
thanks for the info
Nice comparisons, thanks!
Great article Thank you!
This is great information. I just moved in to a new home and I actually have landscaping to do here, so I am very excited.
Right now we just use mulch but I might change my mind.
I love composting! Who doesn’t want free rich fertile soil for next tears garden!? My veggies thrive in it! <3
Thanks for all the info.
Nice!
I HAD NO IDEA ABOUT ALL THESE TIPS FOR TOMATOES.
Thanks for explaining the difference between the two!
I mulched in the Spring. Have never used compost.
We use compost in our garden and plants love it.
This is useful information.
Thank you for sharing with us.
I like compost, it’s very hot here and seems to work better!
Thanks for the great info.
What a great prize and so much to learn from this blog!
I really never looked into compost or mulch even when I was gardening. Maybe that’s why I stopped gardening, because what I grew was some times mouth watering! Most of the time though, I couldn’t make out what I “grew!” I now know that compost is the gardeners “black gold”. I have to pin this to share this information with my gardening friends. I have used egg shells, but they can turn smelly. Thank you for sharing. You and your husband are experts!!
I like the laying advice. Want to try this. Not sure if I prefer mulch or compost yet.
I remember my dad composting in the 1970’s. It was good then and it is still good. Thanks for this information post.
I do compost and I use it every time I plant something new; but I don’t have enough to cover all the areas I would like to. I have way too many pine trees and not enough leaves. I need to find another cheap used mower to chop up the pine needles. Thanks for the advice!
Thankyou so much for the good information you are always great with the information needed for everyone
I have to rethink how I mulch.
Great information! I was using the wrong thing.
I prefer compost as well! I really don’t care for mulch. I have never tried using newspapers and cardboard
We are learning how to compost. My Mom is a Master Gardener and she says her’s is the best.
The mulch makes everything look finished it looks great. I had to pin this so can refer to it and give the compost a try. I know some mulch can be toxic to animals so that is a concern too.
I use newspaper for the weeds, but I think I should give compost a try. Thank you for the helpful info!
My oldest daughter uses compost on her garden in Texas. I did not use mulch at my last home, but did use manure to amend the soil.
good info!
I need to start adding chips or compost from now on. I only put mulch down but see that it is best to add compost before mulch. Thanks for the information!
It got mem when you said that mulch would stay more in its place because it is bulkier. In that case, I should opt for mulch delivery for the garden that I wanted for my backyard. It will give me the assurance that the plants such as herbs and vegetables I wanted to have would be growing healthily over time.