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 ...

Mulching is a key garden task, but many gardeners miss the mark. Learn what mulch is, how to apply it, and what to avoid.

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 ...

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 ...

We’re well into fall, but there are plenty of things still to do – or just dream about in the garden. You may have some questions. For answers, turn to Ask an Expert, an online question-and-answer ...

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 ...

Gardening expert explains the key thing to check when buying mulch for spring, with advice on choosing between compost, bark, ...

If you’ve begun your springtime weeding regime, the next step is likely to be mulching, spreading a layer around your prized plants in beds and borders, whether to suppress weeds, retain moisture or ...

Every spring, we should take a look at our landscape to determine what clean-up or other preparations we need to do before the heat of the summer gets here. Cleaning up dead plant material, leaves, or ...

For effective weed suppression without the need for a weed membrane, a mulch layer should ideally be three inches deep, ...