Why I've Stopped Mulching My Beds With Compost

[@HuwRichards]

I just want to mention that every garden is different, and to truly know what best applies to you is all about context and means trying out different methods to see what brings you the best results. There is no real right or wrong for most things in gardening, I am just sharing this video as food for thought, and to be open and honest about my reasonings based on my own experience of multiple experiments over the past few growing seasons. My goal is to have less dependence on compost, and so the compost I do use I want to make sure is as effective as possible, and let other natural resources protect the soil over the worst months. I will also make a video soon that explores the fact that some of my beds haven't and will not always get an additional application of compost on an annual basis. This will build on from the things I have covered or alluded to in this video, and I hope you find it very interesting! PS - You are absolutely allowed to disagree with me, I'm just observing how my garden responds to changes, and also that I try to follow as closely as possible what actually happens in nature (where compost isnt laid on the ground, rather organic material like leaves are, and then they decompose)

[@maruvandermerwe7809]

Thank you, Huw. As always, your videos are so informative and inspiring. I am from South Africa.

[@VoteThirdPartyorFourth]

Disagreed. Mulch is non-negotiable. GOOD mulch, at that.

[@HuwRichards]

@@VoteThirdPartyorFourth non negotiable for what sorry?

[@VoteThirdPartyorFourth]

@@HuwRichards for an ecosystem, dude. Nothing exists on its own. Buddhism calls this interconnectivity "emptiness." Without mulch, you're just another empathy-free European doing the botanical equivalent of foie gras. Basically every ecosystem besides deserts have dense, diverse ground cover.... OR significant leaf litter. 3"-4" of wood chips will do, and last a lot longer than straw. Using compost alone defeats the purpose: capillary action will dry out your soil and that eliminates habitat for your microbes. An inch of compost underneath 3 inches of wood chips accomplishes everything, better and easier.

[@magspies]

@@VoteThirdPartyorFourth 🤣did you watch the vid? Huw has just spent more than 13 mins talking about how important mulch is, esp in winter, just not doing it with compost...

[@petereisenzopf7663]

I am a permaculturist in Albany NY. I have always waited until spring to apply compost to my annual garden beds for the reasons you describe and I think it makes a difference. It certainly does no harm. Great video. It is obvious that you are thinking about these topics deeply. Sharing your thought process is helpful

[@Brandon-wp8ws]

Hey I’m in Schenectady NY and staring to get into permaculture. Do you have any tips, suggestions, do’s/dont’s. Anything would help. Thanks!!

[@gvolk11]

Me, too. From Pacific Northwest, USA. I learned from my grandparents who lived “The Grapes of Wrath” during the Great Depression. Working their way to Oregon, they had gardened to survive.

[@travelinventor9422]

I'm from central new York and I would recommend ordering bareroot bushes and trees online early 39th Parallel nurseries is good, and they're are others. Get your orders in early, try to get Seaberries (nitrogen fixing) and black currents not only delicious but they smell amazing from spring to the beginning of winter, and they're very easy to propagate one you start them. Hybrid chestnuts and Asian pears are also highly recommended!

[@snideremark]

Hey! I’m from nearby Vermont. Just over the border in Bennington.

[@markthompson180]

From the US here - this topic interests me. From my perspective, I see "Mulch" and "Compost" as being separate things. I don't use compost to mulch soil. Here in the States, I think it's typical to take straw, leaves, and bark mulch to apply as mulch - and separately - use compost as a soil amendment. Two separate things. Apparently, over there in the UK, there is much less of a distinction between the two. Interesting.

[@HuwRichards]

Hi Mark, you've hit the nail on the head here! It has inspired a video - thank you!

[@freedombug11]

Yes, I'm from the U.S. too and I've thought the same thing.

[@Notturnoir]

@@HuwRichardsyes, here in the US cmposted soil is added to the gardening beds, while mulch (bark/pine needles)sits on top around the plants as a protector to hold in water/block sun. Also, we do cover crops like redclover to improve the soil and turn that over.

[@ocanadastandinguard6840]

Canada - definitely 2 separate concepts

[@apriljones8999]

In the UK here.. thought the 2 things should be separate too. Mulch should normally be straws, leaves or wood chips...this is confusing! 🤔

[@erinwojcik4771]

Any leaves or grass clippings spread on a garden bed is both compost and mulch at the same time. I started my garden simply by using the autumn leaves that were already a part of my yard. Eventually, I started building raised beds which meant I needed additional soil. I found a local horse stable looking to remove barn scrapings and hauled about 2.5-3 cubic yards of that home to fill the beds, but I did it late in the season and left them dormant for the autumn and winter. They have beautiful, rich, fluffy soil now. All summer, every time the lawn was mowed, I added a thin layer of clippings around the base of each plant to reduce evaporative water loss. Any extra clippings got mixed into the compost bin along with shredded paper from destroying old tax paperwork. As for those leaves I started using, I still mulch everything down heavily with them each winter. Come spring whatever hasn't rotted away will be raked into the compost bin to finish breaking down. My neighbors have mixed feelings about the way I garden. Some love that I'm gardening but think I should be using modern chemical based techniques. Some like it just as I have it. Others loath it entirely complaining that it is going to attract racoons, skunks, and the like. I'm not worried because the abandoned house down the street does that anyway and these same neighbors aren't complaining about that yard growing wild. Maybe next spring, I will lay cliam to it and make it an extension of my garden. I've become known as the local plant lady, and I don't shy away from being the person taking the wheelbarrow up and down the block collecting the leaves everyone else is removing and hauling them all back into my garden. My biggest year was 2023. I moved 80 wheelbarrow loads of leaves (rough estimate of 2 cubic yards) which consisted of a mix of species including but not limited to: sugar maple, norway maple, silver maple, little leaf linden, white pine, cotton wood, honey locust, paper birch, lilac, roses, and blue spruce. As well as landscape plants such as hostas, Solomon's seal, peonies, shasta daisies, hydrangeas, and lilies. Basically whatever the neighbors put at the curb for the city to remove goes into my garden. It's not difficult to compost. Make a pile of leaves and plant based kitchen scraps in the autumn. Next spring plant your garden in it. Thus, I have an abundance of compost and don't view it as something precious. It is just more dirt to fill divets in the lawn or sunken corners of the raised beds. I use it as potting soil for my house plants and summer time hanging baskets. It just exists with what I consider to be very little effort on my part.

[@midwestribeye7820]

I also gather my neighbors leaves and grass clippings. I work at a school and they give me all their paper shreddings. The cooks will safe me gallons tin cans when I ask. I also take food that the kids throw away to feed my chickens. I like how you do so many of the same things. Wish you were my neighbor! We could plant some fruit trees to pollinate each others.

[@wildlifegardenssydney7492]

Thank you for sharing. I loved hearing every beautiful and interesting detail of what you are ❤ doing. I am “that woman” here too! I do so many of the things you described as well and some different things things too . Such as being on call for supermarket waste which I use in my many worm farms which are part of the power house of the garden along with chop and drop for soil protection and fertility. I would absolutely love to have wonderful neighbours like you…..Awww the things we could do together and share.

[@runningwarrior5468]

I put crushed leaves or grass on my beds here in Upstate NY to have SOMETHING over it, (snowy zone 6b) and then put the compost down in the spring. The leaves and the grass that I pulled back is the bottom layer for the newly emptied the compost bin for the following year.

[@felicitygee381]

I think this compost as mulch in autumn, is a hangover from old allotment(farming?) traditions of spreading fresh manure in the autumn on cleared beds. I read it was done because the manure needed the exposure to the elements over winter to breakdown into useable fertiliser ready for spring. seems to me a fast way to utilise a vast quantity of manure without needing space in a separate compost heap.

[@leighcherry6491]

OMG. I am so glad you have talked about this. I am going to spread compost in spring as you have said. Last year we had so much rain , the soil was compacted. I was worried about waiting, but feel better about it now. So thank you 😊

[@Boater_Jessie]

Yes, Huw! I had the same light bulb moment and decided not to add compost till March. I found that crops grew better when I did this on my allotment. Last year I mulched in November after seeing everyone else at the allotment doing the same (I succumbed to peer pressure!) and I found my crops did not do as well as when I mulched in spring (following my gut instinct). Thank you for your honest gardening videos.

[@keithomelvena2354]

Indeed. Compost is a limited resource in my garden and I prefer not to buy it in and not just because of the expense. You can never be sure of its quality, or contamination status. Apparently animals eating feed that has been treated with hormonal herbicides produce contaminated manure. I like to use my own inputs.

[@urbugnmetoday3183]

In the fall I fill my beds with leaves, mowed clippings and end of the year comfrey …I buy compost from Mennonites, no chemicals put it in a month before I transplant or sow

[@bioboertuur]

Depending on what I want to grow, but I'm pretty much in the same time frame. The very early plantings, I'll compost mulch earlier, but more than anything else, I love shredded leaves in autumn. Mostly gone by spring and I can clearly see where I ran out of leaves. (100% sand, no loam/clay, OM in the low 1% range, youngly recovering corn field)

[@HuwRichards]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience! Really interesting to hear of similar experiences 🌿

[@erinwojcik4771]

​​​​@@bioboertuur, my city lot is similar. Previous owners used chemical fertilizers on the lawn and allowed the invasives to run free. Sand soil doesn't help. Come mid-June the first two summers here meant crispy brown grass. I was told by neighbors that if I wanted a lush yard, I would need to use loads of fertilizer and water regularly. I also had water issues in my basement on the south wall due to the neighbor's lack of rain gutters. A little hauling of street tree leaves back into my yard fixed both the damp basement and the lack luster lawn in just two years. I will admit, I still have to deploy chemicals for one variety of highly persistent invasive, but I went from an initial blanket treatment in triplicate to spot checks a few times each summer to keep the creeping charlie under control. I overseeded white clover on my lawn as well to not have to fertilize anymore. However, any good gardener knows that elimination of one problem always allows a new one to emerge. My new problem seems to be powdery mildew.

[@TrixiaDK]

Talking about grass clippings. After the first cutting, we tried something new (for us) We took the fresh grass clippings into some containers, and planted potatoes in it. No soil, only grass clippings. The potatoes were the best we had all summer. We will definitely be doing that next year 😃

[@psisky]

You've made me want to try that.

[@paulineprice9534]

​@@psiskyme too! What a great experiment!

[@tosokeeffe]

Me too great idea

[@Tippler0611]

You wrapped words very well around a difference I had noticed between gardeners as well... Whether compost is for feeding or protecting soil. As a US gardener, I have battled with the idea of leaving compost on the surface as mulch where it is exposed to rain or irrigation, temperature variances, and UV. I often use half-finished compost with the knowledge that the larger things will find their way to the top and act as a shield while the nutrition goes down to the roots. I do like to clean things up in spring so the overwintering slugs are moved to the compost where they might do some good. The rest of the time I keep a messy, mulchy surface so the bugs and frogs and snakes can move in and keep things balanced. I just threw down mustard as cover this morning, as the cover I put down in October wasn't sprouting well. In the past I'd had it flower all winter and it was lovely to see the bright flowers covered in bees on a sunny January day.

[@hettispaghetti6061]

I always really appreciate your videos as they're not preachy. You offer information as a way of interrogating the logic of a particular method. This way of presenting information helps myself and others reflect on our growing practices in each individual context and offers avenues in to notice things that may or may not be working. I really appreciate your creativity, openness and mindfulness. My only green space is my allotment plot. I generally leave crops in the ground or use green manures rather than mulching in winter. I add a layer of compost over crops like garlic. Otherwise I only mulch over less hardy perennials (eg dahlias) as a way of offering frost protection, I use free wood chippings or fallen leaves netted down. And then I wait until spring to use compost when planting out annuals - this is partly because it allows me to stagger the amount of compost I need as I get around to planting each section. I make a lot of my own compost but I need to buy at least some each year, and as someone on a low income it's better for my finances to buy smaller amounts of compost each month rather than bulk buy.

[@tinkeringinthailand8147]

Here in Thailand I put compost down a week before putting in my propagated seedlings, I do this all year round and my crops and beds are fantastic, so much soil life :)

[@ohio_gardener]

My raised beds are filled with just compost and Biochar, and they have always been very productive. Every fall I add a layer of 2" or 3" of new compost to compensate for the drop in the beds as the beds used by the plants, and then mulch them with several inches of wheat straw for the winter months. The straw protects the compost from the winter's wind, rain, and snow, while allowing earthworms to continue working the compost.

[@sircorkysriley4904]

I do the same in southern ontario. Used straw from duck and chicken pens 👣👣👣

[@joshhollar2223]

Same but gonna try fine wood mulch instead of straw this winter in nc

[@siriusowl]

I'm in South Norfolk UK, with a no dig, organic veg garden on poor sandy soil. I'm also disabled. I really appreciated this video because for years I've only ever spread my compost in spring... This was mainly due to feeling like all the wonderful nutrients would get leached out over winter. The secondary issue is that my late summer and autumn compost is never ready till spring. I don't leave bare beds and containers over winter. I dread I mainly sow mustard and let it get hit by frost, then I remove the remainder in spring before spreading a compost mulch. Areas where I don't sow mustard, I mulch with dead leaves but I don't use chop and drop here because we have hordes of Spanish slugs and snails here which only get worse with chop and drop. Sometimes in summer I apply thin grass clippings as mulch to aid water retention. Like you I use dry dead leaves as mulch in the greenhouse winter beds, to both cover the soil as well as provided some insulating warmth. Because this soil is so sandy I find I need to apply either seaweed meal or rock dust every year because this soil leaches nutrients rapidly and loses trace elements. I'd much rather not have to buy in these but it has made such a huge difference to crop health and pest resistance that I will continue with this, especially as I grow several crops a year in each bed or container. The other thing I do, which you don't mention is that I apply my compost as a surface mulch when it's still a bit chunky and fruity and not fully broken down. I never wait for it to become fine and crumbly. This is because I feel that it has way more microbial growth at this point and therefore acts the same as applying a fermented garden tea, to activate microbial activity in the soil. The compost is also always teaming with red compost worms at this point. I do have to buy in compost every year. I live quite near to Plantgrow and buy their certified organic compost mulch, which is also quite fruity and still has plenty of fibrous structure, so is a great nutrient, as well as moisture retainer, unlike more fine composts. That's the other reason for using chunkier compost mulches here as they take much longer to turn to powder and so act as a really good, moisture retaining mulch for most of the growing season. I sometimes add a thin layer of grass clippings in summer to help moisture retention.

[@dmk_games]

In Australia. There is no hard frosts in most of our capital cities. E.g is Sydney, brassicas, spinach, carrots, lettuce, alliums, grains grow well though winter. So I don't really worry about putting compost before winter.

[@andyd3955]

Hi Huw thats a great observation, we have have 3 large raised beds and the rain during the autumn most years just keeps getting worse, so the run off issue must be eroding and degrading the compost that goes on at the end of the season, from now on I will give it a go from march thanks for your advice best wishes Andrew

[@1millionpumpkins542]

I'm discovering here in NE Arizona zone 6b that different mulching has different functions. Compost lays directly on the soil surface and adds nutrients, but without a layer of straw type of mulch, it does not shade or protect from wind. A third type of mulch is using sticks and branches to create a structure that can shade or insulate. I am also learning that soil life comes in layers, too. There is the rhizosphere underground where root exudates stimulate microbes. The dead microbes and tiny animals create necromass, the carbon-rich dead bodies they leave behind to be taken down by rhizosphere dwellers. On top of the soil is the detritus sphere, where insects, toads, etc hang out. They need a thick layer of fluffy straw, leaves, chop and drop, etc to eat and hide in. In the open air, the leaves of the plant are coated with more microbes. Also, their stomata open up to take in the CO2 emitted by the creatures in the detritus sphere. Plants make exudates out of their tops to attract herbivores (I call nectar, pollen, fruits, and leaves etc that plants create in the open "exudates" because a plant is a Giving Tree above and below! ❤

[@ndamulelogumani]

I like this dude, always trying new things. My kinda gardener guru

[@ebradley2306]

I have started starting seeds in leaf mould and old potting soil. Working well so far. I, too, am focusing on having a self contained garden with the minimum of inputs just for the blueberries.

[@Boterhammetpindakaas]

Thanks for sharing, this year I started gardening on an allotment and I have been puzzling on how to get enough compost of my garden and how to best use the little compost I can produce myself to the maximum. I've been putting in a lot of perennials, just as you mentioned in the last bit of your video. But still, I went from 5 square meters to 50+ square meters for my annuals. Reading through the comment section might help even more!

[@sowgrowandcook]

Hi Huw, I agree that rain can wash away/compact mulch or compost. I still apply compost or manure and top with autumn leaves and cover with black plastic or tarp that I’ve used year after year. Seems to work well if the amendments are protected - and the worms can continue to digest everything for 6 or 7 months.

[@deborahevans4811]

I really appreciate your lack of dogma, Huw. It's a sign of true intelligence to be able to have flexible thinking and to change one's mind.

[@lindasands1433]

I've always thought that mulching with compost was a waste, especially when there are many other resources that can be used as mulch. So thank you for this video Huw

[@spoolsandbobbins]

Here in Nova Scotia 🇨🇦 we put compost on most beds in fall, then mulch and cover with cloth so it doesn’t blow away. In the spring, when we remove the cloth and mulch, most of the compost is gone and we need to add more. We plant a lot of garlic so it works well.

[@AuntieLouGA]

Yes I think it’s good thinking. My dad did exactly that and always grew wonderful veg. He waited until late winter to compost/manure the beds just like his dad did before that in Ireland.

[@andrewjames6676]

Yes, good advice. I'm on thin chalky soil, improved little by little over the last 45 years. I have loads of autumn leaves which cover the soil in winter - important because chalky soil dries quickly. And all over the garden there is self-sown borage, comfrey, chard, marigolds together with giant verbascum and nicotiana (free tobacco, but I don't smoke!) As people have said, every garden is different!

[@ekcs3941]

Thanks for these ideas we are so busy this winter so I doubt we can start mulching until March anyway. I have been getting a bit worried about being behind on my allotment. These are great ideas for a busy family with young kids way less high maintenance. I think i'll follow your lead and wait!

[@mudotter]

I am on the West Coast of Canada and I've never put down compost in the fall for years. In fact I cover/wrap my oldest compost with black plastic for the winter, for use in spring. I think the black plastic keeps in warmth and kills any seedlings that try to come up on the surface. I put down leaves and seaweed in the winter and save my compost for spring. I also have a selection of chosen 'weeds' I let self sow all year long, and when they get in the way I chop and drop them or compost them if they're mature. I use borage for my green manure tea in summer. I still don't get the growth and sizes of plants my manure purchasing friends get, yet but I am still soil building, only having a garden here for 3 seasons so far, and expanding it a bit every season.

[@alice_rabbit8345]

I put fresh horse manure in 30 gallon grow bags in June. Turned it a few times but didn’t add anything. By Halloween it was well rotted and looked like rich soil. I have a small garden so had plenty to spread over my beds before the leaves fell.

[@JoeSmith-s1o]

I am glad you have had this revelation. I have never mulched over winter with compost as like you say its way too valuable especially if it gets washed out from rain and I cant even create enough compost to mulch everything in my garden I have always always mulched with autumn leaves and chop and drop comfrey, grass etc I find come spring and planting time my beds are WAY more filled with worms who have pulled all that lovely plant matter into the ground turned it into vermicompost and air-rated the soil without me having to do a thing!

[@brianwhite9555]

I would say you are spot on with your observations and personal opinions. Here in planting zone 6 in SE Michigan(USA), we put effort into building our two 64 sq. ft. compost beds as large as possible by the end of Nov. This assures us we will have plenty of finished compost for all our spring plantings, for both seedlings and seed rows. After cleaning out all of our raised grow beds this fall, we stockpiled a large number of leaf bags in a holding area, and also top dressed(mulched) all beds with partially chopped leaves. These leaves will protect the soil from harsh weather conditions over winter, and suppress weed growth in the early spring. They will partially rot down and their nutrients will slowly incorporate into the soil. Besides using compost liberally in the spring, we mulch all beds right after planting them, using either chopped straw or partially rotted leaves. I think you will do well with the plans you outlined in the video. Keep us posted. :)

[@thepandaman]

Hi Huw, great video. I've been watching you for ages, and recently stumbled upon a podcast episode you did with "My Self Reliance", which sent me off down a rabbit hole of exploring ramial woodchip which you'd mentioned. I think I'm appreciating more and more the permaculture way of thinking, which is just to make use of whatever natural resource you have in abundance. For me, I've got some tree prunings, but also in the process of weeding a very large natural pond, so getting plenty of organic matter from that for mulch/compost.

[@NoDigVegPatches]

You are one of my veg growing heroes Huw. I’ve just completed my 1st year of no dig and am following your progress closely. I’m fascinated by feeding the soil and the microbes & worms are so important. But most gardeners don’t appreciate this. And I just realised that you never mentioned them either. To be honest they are my main consideration in everything I do 🌱😎

[@FishingForLife28]

Gardening in Denmark here (similar climate to the UK) had this thought years ago and have been doing exactly what you descriped with the leaves. I cover my beds with autumn leaves in october, come spring I rake whats left off, amend with compost and plant. The left over leaves goes into my first compost batch of the year

[@earthbuddyeoin]

Living compost (organic matter turned regularly) mixed with vermicast is the best thing to build the soil food web in your soil. Mulching with the above mixture in winter is a brilliant wow to get your beds ready for planting.

[@carmellajames8331]

Hey Huw. Amazing how we're always learning and so important to not be afraid to challenge the norm. I'm from NZ an hr sth of Auckland and we get a lot of rain through winter and spring. ❤ I'm no dig and let weeds grow in my beds through winter along with some leafy crops such as silverbeet and spinach. In late spring I chop and drop all weeds, add grass clippings then cover with my compost. I plant into this and before summer arrives and spring rains have stopped I will cover the beds with hay to now trap the moisture for summer. I find this feeds the worms well through our hot dry summers. What you are doing sounds pretty similar. Hope it all goes well for you.❤

[@keithomelvena2354]

Good advice. That's where Charles Dowdings' system falls over a little, the sheer amount of compost required. I would tend to lean towards your system. Cover crops over winter and apply my limited compost pre planting in spring. Mulching with barley straw where needed once crops establish. In saying that, I have begun chipping my woody material which will give me many more possibilities as it breaks down long term.

[@maxiemills6982]

for the first time, this year, I have attempted to grow a cover crop in my raised beds. My composted leaves and grated pumpkins, and coffee grounds should be ready to spread on my beds in spring. You videos have helped me a great deal in making my garden a better place. Thank you from Spokane Washington.

[@michaelbrandt8788]

Here in Germany we like to put a thin layer of horse manure as mulch on the bare beds in October/November. Over Winter it breaks down and provides nutrions for next years growing season. Especially for plants which like rich soil.

[@heatherkirkup6391]

Thank you, Huw, for sharing your thoughts on this. I appreciate your willingness to grow, learn and change from your observations and experiences in the garden. This makes so much sense! I am fortunate that I am now creating all of my own compost, including leaf mould to make a seed mix. But I too was rather miffed to know that the rain was washing so many nutrients away. Always learning is fun! 🌱🙏🏻🌱

[@lorebrown5307]

There was an old man in my Aunties neighborhood who grew incredible yearly gardens from only composted leaves off his front yard tree. Jim Kovakeski in Maine U.S. grows an entire market garden from grass clippings only. I'd like to see nutrient reports from veg grown solely with grass clippings. That would be interesting.

[@beateschluter664]

IT will depend on your soil. Mine ist pretty sandy and grass clippings, only, just isn't enough for most of the annuals. I found out when my soil became less aerated year after year.

[@tamrahawkes3170]

I love your videos…..I enjoy your garden so much, and get so many ideas from you!.

[@chrissiehart22]

I think your absolutely right Huw! I remember being told when I buy my compost to only buy what you need and make sure it's this season's for exactly the same reason ,it's sat outside and the rains washed most of the goodness away. But thank you for reminding me and we've had snow and forgot to pop extra leaves on my beds x

[@MayonnaiseVenusaur]

You're the gardener. I'm the ecologist who wants to learn about gardening. I'm convinced it is better to put down compost in the Spring. However, I don't think putting down compost in the Fall all those years was a waste. Sure, some of it washed away. But your garden is very porous; that's why it functions. It damn sure didn't do anything bad.

[@travelinventor9422]

But it will be half wasted. It gets washed deep into the subsoil maybe off of your property without feeding and growing plants. Put down a layer of fine charcoal at least an inch thick one year then there's a reason to leave compost on top of it and it will catch at least some nutrients!

[@MayonnaiseVenusaur]

@travelinventor9422 well I love the charcoal idea, but ultimately nothing really goes to waste. You just want to look out for problems you might cause.

[@BryanRezendez]

I run a no-till farm. We apply 2" of compost between each crop harvest and bed flip. Some beds have 4-6 crops per year. Don't put it on in winter. Put it on when your soil is alive, soil is sleeping in winter. We use top dressing with "weed free" compost to avoid most weeding.

[@HuwRichards]

I love the idea of "put it on when the soil is alive"! Thank you for sharing 🌿

[@BryanRezendez]

@HuwRichards things like worms are obviously active year round. But creatures like bacteria can go dormant at lower temps. In nature, there is a massive spike in the spring of nitrogen that slowly tapers over summer. This is because plant matter builds up over winter while bacterial activity is very low. In spring, the nitrogen cycle begins as temps warm. First ammonia is produced, then a bacteria converts that to nitrites, and then another bacteria converts that to nitrates, which are plant available. As a home gardener, we are able to apply organic matter or amendments to keep that cycle functioning at an elevated level all year without the natural decline. As long as there is a food source, optimal temps and moisture, your soil life will do the hard work for you.

[@frederickorcutt9112]

​@@BryanRezendezI've wrestled with the idea of doing nothing over winter for my soil. Now I worry less than when I lived in the mountains of NH though. The growing season up there was painfully short so I felt doing nothing was a big mistake. I tried in bed composting overwinter with layering leaves, grass, hay, compost, small broken up sticks, red wigglers all mixed up under a thin layer of top soil, cardboard and weed barrier (or black plastic for narrow bed runs) to insulate the mix under the snow. There were usually some pockets that didn't turn out so well but it's always full of life! Now that I'm in PA I'm not sure if that method would work well with how often the ground is exposed to sunlight in the winter.

[@myslicechannel]

I put my compost on in oct/nov for 2 reasons - 1: I cover it until I need it to keep the Scottish elements off it and 2: I have the time to do it now, I don't have time in May!

[@lyndaturner6686]

I’m glad you made me think about using my precious compost on my beds over winter, I have some well rotted manure which I’m going to spread instead, if it ever stops raining here in North Cornwall 🤞

[@flo_cty]

From France here, 10y+ of gardening and trying to find out the best way for fertility/efficiency, and I have come to quite the same conclusions. In my context (semi continental - mountain climate) putting mature compost alone on top is also a big waste. It doesn't feed soil life anymore and vanishes away too easily because it's either too cold, too hot and dry, or too rainy in between. Better have less compost mainly for seedlings, and more fresh matter to put on top of garden soil instead. Also having living plants to cover the ground is even better for soil life as you said, and that's just more "free" organic matter then, bare or mulched soil doesn't produce anything from the sun. All the question is how to organize things up, and what does it take for which results in the end. We should try to understand and take the best of the natural processes that create fertility. I appreciate seeing someone going in this direction instead of "just" relying on 7 tons of compost per year.

[@smas3256]

Good Job Huw Richards. Thank you. From USA. Last couple years we've put down compost then chopped leaves on top in the fall. Zone 6b. We were growing great plants and not much veggies. We used straw mulch Last winter and spring got so much rain though. We kept compost covered with tarps. Great video and comment section. No compost this winter and covering garden with chopped leaves. Will rake leaves to the side a couple weeks before spring to warm the soil and add compost then. No more straw mulch either.

[@SuzannePeace]

Thanks for this video Huw. It’s really interesting to hear your thoughts and see the different methods you are using in your garden. I’ve been doing some similar things to you at my allotment this year - partly due to the very wet winters we now get and because I want to be more self sufficient at my allotment.

[@retrobob3802]

I've taken a similar approach too. Given I'm not going on them for months I'm chucking leaves, veg scraps, chop and drop, bit of ash from fire straight on the bed and leave it (or leaf it LOL). Will need to stop probably in December to give enough time to break down.

[@HuwRichards]

That alone does wonders!

[@lorebrown5307]

Same here but I start with a layer of composted horse manure with sawdust as the farms use free sawdust bedding. The sawdust absorbs/retains some of the snow/rain

[@anafd25]

Same here. I start with chop and drop in the autumn as each raised bed goes empty, so the soil is not bare throughout winter. In spring, I add compost and then sew or plant :) Hello from Croatia :)

[@RFranks]

I reserve some compost as extra mulch for more hungry plants like squash. Having some cover crops or less demanding ones where it's spread thinner can work well. I've also found the combination of green manures and compost has given the best results overall.

[@LearnPermaculture]

Another really great video Huw. :) Of course, the plant matter that would naturally fall onto the soil surface in the autumn would use those winter months to break down. Their nutrients would be less liable to leach away because they're still bound up in the leaves and stems. Compost has already been decayed, so applying it in spring makes more sense. Though good to give a little time perhaps for it to feed the soil life before putting out transplants. Of course, there are plenty of plants that want to cover soil, growing over the winter - here in our garden in Cornwall they include self seeding corn salad, winter purslane and winter cress - all welcome winter salads that also act as cover crops.

[@mareeploetz5194]

Interesting thinking and reasoning. Thanks Huw! My attempt to No dig or now minimal disturbance needs huge qualities of compost that I can’t produce. Compose is very precious. I’ve been experimenting with chop and drop/ + grass clippings and a thick layer of straw to over winter and improve soil.

[@audas]

I just can't understand how anyone is still NOT gardening with wood chips. My crops are completely unstoppable - just absurd levels of growth. 1/10th the compost, 1/10th the watering, no tilling, no weeds, no pests. It is just a mesmerizing wonder that people are so resistant to the exact process that grows 100 foot trees with no fertilizer. Entire rain forests. It took a few years to understand the system but now I tuck everything in and go and get my basket to harvest and its ready by the time I come back. Small suburban block inner city - 30+ fruit trees, every single salad, vegetable crop, vine, perennial, annual. I used to bring in tons of coffee, been chaff and horse poo and hot compost. Not any more. Wood chips and kitchen scraps. Done. I lay down a new bed mid-winter - layer of horse poo, news paper directly on grass on horrible soil - 6 inches of wood chips - pull it back in spring to plant and it was as deep as you like with absurdly rich humus.

[@Veggiesrule1908]

So interesting and food for thought. I didn’t actually mulch last autumn or even spring because it was soooooo wet. I finally managed to mulch just before planting and I’ve had better crops than the past few years. Now I’ve watched this I wonder if I’ve done something beneficial by accident!!!!

[@ronanmcadam7251]

What a fabulous presentation, of ideas, questions and some paths forward

[@urbaninterlude]

I'm living in the driest capital city in Australia. Here we consider compost and mulch entirely different things - compost is for soil organics, mulch is for weed suppression and preventing water loss. I have been building up a garden in the front yard that was previously sand and an invasive runner grass. We put down lime (it was pH 4), chicken poo, cardboard (bike boxes are great for big areas), clayey soil from old raised beds (giveaway on marketplace) compost, then mulching with a mix with bark, woody material, munched up plant stuff. It keeps the soil cool and moist beneath on our 40ºC, low humidity days.

[@elizabethpare9465]

I'm in Canada, zone 5a. It gets really cold here (-30C), so I've never been too sure how to use cover crops because they really don't have much time to grow after my vegetable growing season until the ground gets dead frozen. I have been mulching over winter with a mix a grass clippings and dried leaves from the trees on my property. By the time I'm ready to add compost in the spring (I was also concerned about the leaching from the snowmelt, seeing as snow gets to about 1.5m - 2.5m thick, and heavy spring rains aspect so always added compost in spring) the mulch layer is pretty much all gone and the ground is buttery soft and full of worms. I have very fertile ground as a thick top layer (about 30cm or a foot) with a clay underlayer, but I feel like my plants the last two years have not been as lush. This could be from conserving water as i basically only water when the plants are seedlings, first 2-3 weeks or so, and when we get no rain for over 3-5 days (3, for smaller plants, 5 by the end of the season) which really does not happen very often! I would like to know more about the use of bio-char/ash amendment. Have you made a video on this? Thx!

[@dougtheslug6435]

Zone 4b Canada here and it's the same for me, my piles takes a couple years to compost so I have 3 bays full of it to sustain my garden.

[@jamesgaz788]

same here, north of montreal...

[@theborderer1302]

Every few years I also like to add volcanic rock dust to boost mineral content in the soil. I think this is important for trace elements which naturally deplete over time and won't be replenished by compost alone. I add it in spring to avoid it leaching away in winter rains.

[@lorebrown5307]

Leaves actually have minerals too and can be on par with rock dust

[@theborderer1302]

@@lorebrown5307 Most of the minerals contained in fallen leaves have been reabsorbed by the tree, although you are right, some do remain, but not in the concentrations found in rock dust. What's most important about what's left in the dead leaf is a substance called lignin. This acts as a buffer for extremes of mineral flows within the soil, and can hold the soil nutrients in reserve. It is an excellent winter mulch.

[@jonridgeon1557]

An important thing: If you add compost in the Spring time before sowing your seeds, when you make your seed drill, do not sweep surrounding new compost into your seed drill over your seeds, because in my experience this new compost tends to be more fluffy and dry out which means that your seeds can become dry and not germinate well. What i do is, before putting the compost down, i gather up some buckets of the top soil from the surface and then use this to fill in my seed drills later.

[@marksallotmentplot]

What a great video Huw. Fantastically insightful and really well presented. 👍🌱👍

[@asperrett]

I use my compost judiciously … adding it in when I plant. My two biggest resources here are grass and leaves, and I use both of those to mulch. And I like to use living mulches over the winter. Mostly I have used Austrian winter pea, which is great because you can eat the greens raw in salads or stir fry them, and it sows nitrogen into the soil. I have also experimented with hügelkultur principles in beds and in pots to get away from bringing in external inputs, including bagged soil and compost.

[@tomb2139]

I use lots of straw to mulch almost all of my plants. its fairly cheap to buy a big bag and it creates a nice insulation barrier for my soil. it keeps water in without being swampy and gives worms some nice organic matter to break down. because its fairly low nitrogen and high in carbon its also great for fungal driven soil which really supports soil health. its made everything super low maintenance, it stays frost free over winter and moist during the summer with just rain. ive tried with leaves but I have found those create a mat that sticks together so the soil doesnt breathe. I have really heavy clay soil so adding straw to help the soil structure has been a godsend

[@CaliKim29]

Always spot on and inspiring, Huw. Thank you - CaliKim

[@HortiHugo]

Great to see the progress in your thinking Hew, our compost is such an important source of humus and microbial activity. Great camera and editing work, very enjoyable. All the best there, Hugh

[@dano956]

You make a very good point. I have already covered my garden with compost but I also covered with leaves and here in Canada my garden will be under a meter of snow until mid march.

[@bowtielife]

I'm not sure what part of the US Joshua hails from, but our family has always used a lot of compost. I grew up in upstate New York and Louisiana, adding several inches of compost each year. As a result, I've added between 8 to 14 inches a year (with other components) here in Florida and previously in Arkansas. I think the biggest determining factor is availability. I have access to a real mountain of free compost now and plan to use every bit I can. The plants seem to always know how much they need and leave the rest for the next crop.

[@heron6462]

Gardener in West Wales here. In winter I collect fallen leaves from the sides of the lanes in my neighbourhood and pile them in wooden compost bins. A year and a half later, I scatter what has become a leaf mould in a thick mulch around my newly planted vegetables. It discourages slugs, as it gets powdery on top, and breaks down over the summer, feeding the plants as they grow. No need to mulch in autumn!

[@sherryberry2394]

You are a one of a kind small garden vlogger, you are helping me so much. Much love from Havana, Florida.

[@commeonfaitsonjardin434]

I’ve taken that same decision recently… living in Canada, our winters are looong!! My compost was exposed to bad weather and what not. I now apply it in May. Thank you for confirming that thought 👍

[@2ManyTomatoes]

I live in the US, and my most preferred schedule is to put down chopped leaves in the fall and weigh them down with a layer of compost. In the spring here will be loads of happy earthworms eating those leaves. Then, after planting, add more compost if there is room in the bed and if I have it available. Then I mulch with more chopped leaves, including mulching containers.

[@SueLaverack]

Have you done a video on making activated biochar Huw? I made charcoal every week for a whole summer at Coppicewood College several years ago and we sold the finings as biochar after we had riddled the burn but I am less sure how to make on a smaller scale or how to activate it.

[@darrylgrimaldi5101]

I'm in Oklahoma, USA. I put some kind of a mulch in winter to cover soil because of our lack of rain and WIND which dries out soil. Keep it covered keeps the soil micro and worms alive. I put nutrients down as I'm planting in spring.

[@emkn1479]

Yes, such a precious resource and so laborious to create. I’ve found issues with mulch and slugs over winter/spring, so I’m torn on what to do. I still have plants growing, might just leave them die over winter and worry about it in spring, or remove plants once they’re done and put down cardboard, so I can easily lift and clear out pests. Still working on it…we are also aging a load of horse manure but I’m cautious about included weed seeds…been burned before!

[@garthwunsch]

Steve Solomon, author of The Intelligent Gardener, advises that we only apply a very thin layer of extra high quality compost, perhaps less than an inch, and scuffle it into the top bit of soil. He uses a Tilther (Johnny's seeds), and I'll be buying one too... we're both north of 80 and need to find easier ways to garden. I've had a terrible problem with slugs, to the point that I can't grow anything that needs direct seeding. I used to mulch very heavy, and now have very rich soil... 14% organic matter, but the permanent mulch has to go. I'm mulching with leaves over winter then removing early spring to take away the slug hiding places. Much of the leaf matter will have been digested under the snow by the soil biology. Great video. We all change... Or suffer the consequences.

[@donniecarter4981]

I'm here in Alabama USA and I feel you are right. It seems to be a waste to put your compost out before winter. I feel it leaches out and is less affective this way.

[@ironmaiden3751]

Since my compost pile has too much green and needs more time to 'cook' I started dumping my kitchen scraps onto my raised beds. Been pondering, I may also gather a few more leaves and go get a bit of seaweed to put straight on there as well. Living here on the Atlantic coast Canada it should all break down quite nicely over the next 5 months by which time I should have some lovely 'real' compost to add in before Spring planting. Great video, saving the 'real' stuff.

[@christinebrooks6364]

Hi Huw, great video with interesting methods. Look forward to seeing your results too. Thanks for sharing and take care 😊

[@nicklowe2710]

Thanks Huw, really good to have some confirmation of this logic. I recently started using grass cuttings + shredded leaves as a mulch in the fall (mimicking nature), then applying compost in spring as you suggest. One benefit is it gives you extra time to make compost! I do wonder as you said how much compost you actually need if you are mulching in the fall and adding the organic matter that way. Makes me think you could use less compost for beds which leaves more for propagation and tub growing. Would be good to see a few trials of that approach vs adding compost! Thanks again for all your content

[@intentionallymade]

US here-We have always added compost during the spring for fresh planting and any time I plant I’ll add a little to that spot. I use straw to cover my beds over winter.

[@magspies]

this feels exciting! 🙌there are some, well garden 'influencers', who've spread some great ideas, but also a lot of random non-scientific stuff that they 'just believe'...stuff that just mighnt be the most beneficial for the majority of people (or the envirnoment). i got caught up in it too at first...that it was a whole method, rather than looking at each 'recommendation' in and of itself. looking forward to your new book!👏

[@123uschie]

Good point about laying the compost in the spring vs fall.

[@carly4610]

Huw, great video, I completely agree. Have you ever tried mulching with used rabbit / guinea pig litter? Wood-shavings best (hay / straw not so good, can now get chopped hemp (Auboise?)). So many benefits: 1) animals' poo acts as slow-release fertiliser pellets; 2) keeps slugs / snails & cats off; 3) protects seedlings (can heap up around them when cold / windy); 4) worms love it, take it down fast, makes claggy soil friable; 5) doesn't blow away (I water soil before spreading and press down lightly); 6) helps avoid compaction when walking on it; 7) looks tidy; 8) can use all year round; 9) birds use bits of fur to build nests; and 10) it's free! I get regular deliveries from friends (in exchange for leaves for pets). I tried to get a load from our local pet shop but they said it all went to landfill.....

[@danfarkas5375]

I mulch my beds in winter out of needing to empty the compost bin to start a new pile. It does make a lot of sense to spread in March though. It seems like the protected compost would have more microbes in it compared to the compost being exposed to the elements.

[@andrewperkin2179]

Thats my stuation aswell. But I feel the microbes can cope out in the open as Huw says they respond fast as the temperatures climb. In any case where else would they go but a few cm down into the previous years compost.

[@FrankEdavidson]

Much of Britain is on Podzol and the horizons demonstrate the effect of applying a mulch in autumn. Upper horizons are washed out. Lower horizons are washed out. I put unchopped leaves on beds over winter. Grass clippings sans seed heads, if any left. I rake them off and put them on the leafmould cage in spring. I apply garden compost and leaf mould in spring or during the growing season.

[@zoewhite7705]

Interesting. I think the idea of putting it down in autumn is so the worms etc have time to break it down before you plant your veg, therefore making sure the nutrients are ready to be absorbed. But with the rainy winters we now have I also have been wondering how much of the good stuff is being washed away… I think putting it on in spring is a good compromise. Still might be good to put down in autumn in herbaceous borders though, to protect the crowns of your perennial plants over winter though - I’m about to do a layer of nutritious compost topped with a layer of wood chips to protect from the weather.

[@HuwRichards]

Compost is already broken down, so worms are irrelevant as they bring down organic material like leaves or grass clippings which will then decompose. This is why I much rather mulch with organic material over winter, and then organic matter in spring.

[@kaneaspey05]

That’s what I gathered from these videos, that the compost is taken down by the life in the soil over winter and to have some sort of cover to protect it from the elements.

[@HuwRichards]

@@kaneaspey05 the difference really is between organic material and organic matter and the natural core functions of soil life. And also I very much question everything I do and have realised that some things I've said before aren't what I end up truly believing once I come across a better alternative in my context.

[@ricos1497]

​@@HuwRichardswhat a terrible attitude. Everyone knows that "don't back down, double down" is far better than questioning yourself. Sincerely, L Truss

[@HuwRichards]

@@ricos1497 hahahahah😂

[@StephenSmith-ge1qf]

I cover my vegetable beds in late autumn with home made hay or leaf litter. Then in the spring I add compost and manure prior to planting. The winter cover protects the soil to some extent, and the food goes in when needed. I also gave up the total no-dig technique as on my acid, sandy soil I found it didn't work at all. I now lightly fork in the orgsanic matter along with a dressing of wood ash and I am getting much better results.

[@beansbrewsandbread]

Food for thought Huw. I tend to think that as with everything in gardening there is no necessarily right or wrong way to approach this. I can understand that if you have only a small compost system you might want to treat what is a precious resource to an application before planting time in March to stop loosing some of the goodness to rain and leaching, but if you have tonnes of the stuff and its in various stages of being finished I can see how you might want the winter to help it break down further by applying it then. Same again for manure - you would probably want a good winter to help break it down and work into the soil better - otherwise it would be too hot to use straight away in Spring. Also from a practical position you've got to think about getting the stuff moved on rather than just storing it indefinitely. FWIW this year I'm applying a 15cm depth of manure from a trusted source across most of the plot to mulch and kill the weeds to get a new start next year after having tried in many years to just use compost. We just couldn't keep the compost producing enough to apply across the whole plot in previous years and it badly needs some bulk adding to it. At least that's the plan! Cheers, Andy

[@HuwRichards]

Hi Andy Very interesting and absolutely agree with no right or wrong, it is all about context! Great work regarding the manure! My dream scenario would be to have an organic farm next door and just mulch all my beds with manure in autumn - done and dusted!

[@beansbrewsandbread]

@@HuwRichards If only! 🙂 It's taken over 4 years to get a trusted source of manure for the plots - meaning that we had to make do with the compost we could actually make. A precious resource indeed! Thanks Andy!

[@davidsmith663]

This is something I had problems with this spring. The soil was washed out. All the nutrients had pretty much gone. Now this winter, I am not putting compost on all the beds, but where I am composting a bed it will be covered in silage sheet. This will allow the works etc to do their thing, but it will stop the leaching. I have also sheeted my compost bin. Next year should be interesting.

[@anonperson3972]

Join the leaf club!!! I use leaves in my herb, vegetable and flower beds because we get huge quantities from the street we live on accumulate on our driveway, so I collect them from the driveway and in front of the house and just put them onto the beds. By the time spring comes along it's broken down into compost and the soil looks amazing.

[@austin2842]

Compost nutrient loss over winter crossed my mind as well, and I decided to delay top-dressing until spring. I do still amend the beds with alfalfa pellets in autumn, though, as the extra few months help with breakdown and incorporation ready for spring planting.

[@pennythompson4790]

I mulch with grass clippings over winter & put compost on in spring/summer when I plant out xx

[@JC-kh1ut]

I have always put compost on in autumn and then cover with a tarpaulin keeping water off and only remove when ready to plant. The bugs , worms and mice do their thing , interestingly the thickness of the compost has half over the 6 -7 month when the cover comes off.

[@barbaracoates6814]

Here in western washington i overwinter greens for family and chickens. I only pick the leaves and let the roots continue all winter to nourish the soil.

[@JG-nm9zk]

Hear in Alaska he add seaweed mulch for winter and compost in spring. The seaweed has disappeared by spring. We get 14 feet of rain mostly between fall winter spring.

[@boysrus61]

I have been thinking this same thing in the back of my mind here in Idaho. I have leaf mulch in a 2 year loop and in October I put that glorious stuff on my beds to make room for year 1 to move to year 2 bin BUT, I too wondered if if was spreading the gold too early to sit all winter. Maybe next year I will make year 3 bin and save it until spring to put in my garden boxes. Maybe one difference I do do is that I put freshly mulched leaves over the compost as the final layer for winter.

[@tamardevane6635]

Yes. I always put compost in at planting time, in Canada, England and now Portugal.

[@rosengaertlein6041]

I love your account.... always inspiring... and the reason why I didnt stop gardening yet.

[@HuwRichards]

That's so kind of you thank you!

[@DigwellGreenfingers]

Yep, I've always added my compost to the beds in Spring.