By: Chris Dailey

One of the largest time consumers in the organic gardening arena is taking care of weeds. Most regular gardeners will go to the store and buy several containers of herbicides and pesticides and weedkiller in an attempt to thwart these evil intruders that will inevitably overtake your garden area and possibly kill off all of the plants that you are nurturing. If you decide to take the time every day to pull the weeds, depending upon the size of your garden area, this could take several hours a day. If you are a working person, this is probably not a good choice in that your time is limited but you do want your organic garden to grow and flourish. One of the easiest ways to combat weeds is with organic compost. Here are a few tips on how to use organic compost to help battle weeds that will pop up in your garden.

Every person has the ability to start their own mulch pile. Mulch is simply the result of your organic waste from your regular eating habits that you place into a pile with soil and other organic materials. Over time, this next year will begin to decompose as a natural process and will eventually lead to a dark brown material that you can place in your soil or on the topsoil as you are about to learn. Composting is the process that actually will create the organic compost that you will need. The mulch is actually the non-processed early configuration of your organic waste as it begins the decomposition process. Either one is fine to use as a way to cover your crop but you may decide on which is better for you based upon the amount of time that you have during the day.

If you are limited by time, one of the easiest ways to use organic compost to prevent weeds is to start a mulch pile several months before you are about to begin planting. Because it would be at the very least unsightly to throw your organic waste on top of your planted garden area, starting a mulch pile so that the composting process may begin, months later you will have, depending upon the size of your pile, enough mulch and compost to begin covering the topsoil in your garden.

There are various reasons that you would like to cover your crop. This could be due to weather or a need to retain water in your garden area, but for this particular purpose, you want to lay on a thick layer of compost on top of the soil on and around your plants in your garden area in order to stifle the growth of weeds.

Weeds are a very prolific plant which can grow in areas that most plants cannot. You might even see them growing out of the sides of walls or on the sides of buildings where it would not be logical for any kind of a plant to grow or have the ability to grow. Weeds, however, are not completely indestructible and do require the same basic needs that most plants require including sunlight, soil, air, and of course water.

By laying a very thick layer of compost on the topsoil of your garden, you will be eliminated in a very crucial element that is necessary for all weeds to grow and that is adequate sunlight. By removing their ability to quickly get to the sunlight, we needs will inevitably die because they cannot get above your thick organic compost layer.

In essence, not only will the mulch keep the weeds from the sunlight but at the same time we’ll provide protection for your crops as you grow them in the form of weather erosion protection and keeping the ground level at an even temperature so that the real crops can begin to grow. Likewise, essential nutrients in the ground that would be taken by the weeds will now be safe as the weeds again to die and only your organic plants begin to flourish.

Therefore, by taking the time to plan ahead and creating your own little system for taking your organic waste outside and placing it into a bin or a covered pile so that it can begin to decompose, you will create for yourself a natural and free layer of protection for your up and coming garden. You could also go to your local store and purchase humus or some kind of composting material in a bag which would also work in the same manner.

The bottom line is that either one will protect not only your plants that you are growing but also give you many more hours of free time that she would otherwise lose trying to protect your organic garden by stopping the inevitability of weed growth.

By: Chris Dailey

Organic gardeners would know or would have experienced this particular situation. Think of the many times that you have been in your garden, bent over, raking, wishing that you had more time and that you were out of the sun that is currently scorching your back and shoulders. As you look down, you see a familiar enemy looking back at you. It is the same enemy that you saw yesterday and the day before that. Your friendly neighborhood weeds have moved back into your garden and it is time for you to fight back. Sadly, there are many gardeners around the world that work far too hard in order to protect their investment which is their garden. Here are three ways that you can use mulch in your garden as a way to defend yourself against not only weeds, but also the onslaught of natural elements that may harm your organic plants.

The definition of mulch is that it is a conglomeration of organic materials that you have collected over time that have been placed in a pile or spread out over the top of your gardening area in an attempt to control weed growth, maintains soil temperature, reduce evaporation levels that occur during very warm times of the season, and improve the overall appearance of your garden. In short, mulch is simply the organic waste that you throw out every day and that through the natural process of decomposition will inevitably become a composting material that will also and richer soil once it is placed on top or mixed in with the soil it self.

There are many different ways to create mulch. Most of us have long it’s that we know or leads that we need to break. All of these things can be mixed with our organic waste material in order to create what is called a mulch pile. As the months pass by, the natural heat generated by the microorganisms within the mulch and also the heat of the day will start the decomposition process and propel it for many months. This will create a substance called humus, which act as the natural building blocks for most organic plants. The decomposition process will also attract other beneficial microorganisms and things such as earthworms to your garden area which can be very beneficial in creating compost rich soil without you having to even raise a finger.

With all of this in mind, here are the three reasons that you need mulch in your garden in order to ensure that your garden is successful each and every year.

First, mulch that is placed on top of the soil will act as a temperature regulator for the soil it self. Think of it as a kind of insulation that protects the soil from the natural rays of the sun. If the sun light cannot hit the top layer of the soil, it cannot heat the soil and cause a temperature change which could adversely affect your crops.

Second, mulch will act as a fertilizer for your soil as it continues to decompose into a kind of compost. As the microorganisms continue to do their job, motivated by the sun and its heat, and their own natural decomposition processes, once water is applied to this top layer, it will percolate down into the soil further enriching the soil that the roots of the plants are drawing their nutrients from. Therefore, the insulator also has become a kind of feeder for your plants and an enricher of your soil.

Third, mulch is also used to improve the appearance of your garden. Taking a moment to think this through, this does not count throwing your raw mulching material such as tomatoes and sawdust onto your garden area. People that would observe you doing this or observe your garden after you have covered it with your waste material would see a physical and non-eye appealing disaster. However, by taking the time to set up a proper mulch pile to create the compost that you will place on the garden itself, this rich dark brown material will not only become a protector and feeder of your garden, but also an enhancement to the aesthetic beauty of the garden that you are growing.

All it takes is a few minutes a day to take your organic waste and place it into a pile or a bin and allow the composting process to begin in order to ensure that you will have enough mulch ready for your garden when spring comes. If you are starting late, then begin amassing a large pile so that when spring does come you’ll have more than enough organic mulch to cover your garden and protect it each and every day.