Taking care of the garden includes making sure that the plants are getting good amount of water and sunlight. Adding mulch and compost to the garden helps keep the garden soil moist and cool, contributing to healthy plant growth. By definition, mulch and compost are two different things, although mulches may also be made from compost materials. Both mulch and compost are very beneficial to gardens and they can actually make maintenance of the garden much easier.

Mulches may be organic or inorganic materials that are used to cover the soil to help it retain moisture by preventing rapid evaporation caused by the sun’s heat. Mulches may be anything that are good to cover the soil, including wood chips, pebbles, grass clippings, or even volcanic stones. Mulch may also be compost materials from tree wastes gathered after tree lopping work.

The basic idea is that mulch acts as protective material for the soil for the main purpose of moisture retention. Since this lessens the need for constant watering, considerable amount of water is conserved and costs are minimised as well. Aside from their water retaining capability, mulches can also be decorative, especially if they are used for their colours to add contrast to the garden. Another benefit of using mulches around shrubs and other plants on the ground is their ability to keep weeds off the plants. In designing your garden, you can use mulch to separate the grass from the other plants so that it would not be too difficult to cut the grass. Without the much barrier, the grass can easily encroach on the area where the shrubs are growing.

Compost materials are decayed organic materials that may come from animal waste or plant mater. The main purpose of using compost is to add nutrients to the soil similar to traditional fertilisers. It is possible to make compost from grass, tree leaves and tree scraps such as those left over from tree removal. One good gardening technique is to use compost materials such as wood chips as mulch for the ground as well. The double purpose would not only help moisture retention, but also condition the soil by adding valuable nutrients to the soil.

Mulch and compost are good to use for the healthy growth of the plants in the garden. They provide many benefits to the garden and ease maintenance work for the garden. Mulches made from compost materials are best to use for moisture retention and soil conditioning.