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 ...

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 ...

Amanda Blum is a freelancer who writes about smart home technology, gardening, and food preservation. Previously, Amanda has worked as a technology strategist specializing in problem solving and ...

Some summer days -- okay, honestly, most summer days -- seem just too hot to do anything in the garden and landscape. But a couple of tasks will pay off in the long run with better landscape ...

Let’s first start with soil. It's the loose stuff on the surface of the ground that covers over half of the earth’s land surface. It’s made up of minerals, organic matter, broken rock particles, many ...

One of the most commonly asked questions in gardening is ‘what’s the difference between mulch and compost?’ Both are usually brown and soil-like, both help nurture plant growth – so how come they are ...

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 ...

A layer of wood mulch and compost at highway construction sites can reduce rain runoff and lessen erosion, according to research from the LSU AgCenter. A three-year study, funded by the state ...