Back when I was a professional gardener, I had clients who insisted on having me lay down landscape fabric then putting bark on top of it to discourage weeds. I hated this practice and tried to talk ...

COMPOST: Technically speaking, compost is organic matter that has decomposed. The easiest way to make compost is to pile up garden refuse (plus kitchen vegetable and fruit scraps if you’re inclined) ...

A few years ago, a gardening friend suggested I place a layer of compost in my flower beds before mulching with my usual shredded bark mulch. As my garden seemed happy and required less care that ...

A rose by any other name may still be a rose, but mulches need defining. There are 17 different materials considered on the University of California’s Statewide Integrated Pest Management website, and ...

Compost and mulch are essential parts of successful gardening in the San Antonio area. Compost is decomposing organic material that increases drainage, water-holding capability and nutrient efficiency ...

It has been a challenging summer for landscape and garden plants because of low soil moisture and record high temperatures. Mulch and compost figure in the effort to address the challenges. I’ll ...

Many folks are now improving new and established gardens with mulch, but be wary of where you get it. It is possible to spread insects like the coconut rhinoceros beetle, sugarcane borer and fire ants ...

Compost is costly, I can’t deny it. It’s also been in short supply as more of us are tending our gardens and nurturing our soil. Bark, on the other hand, is relatively cheap and plentiful. If compost ...

Compost and mulch. Both are great soil conditioners, but how do they differ? Each serves as a time-release fertilizer and insulator. When augmented with livestock and poultry manure, nutrient-rich ...