Compost, Manure, Mulch

Please can someone tell me the difference between compost, manure and mulch? I know this is probably a simple question, but would really appreciate knowing how they all differ from each other.

 

Hi paul1 - I will have a go.

1) Garden soil. This is made up of particles of rock (eg sand) plus decayed organic matter, which hold moisture and nutrients, both of which plant roots need. The other constituent is little cavities that hold air, as roots also need air. Its a good material for growing plants.

2) Compost from the garden centre. The bags that you buy are actually not compost - they are badly named. It's are a another growing medium, which simply means that it's a convenient structure like soil for growing plants. It's comprised of chopped up organic material like peak, coir (outside mat of coconuts) etc. Like soil it will hold water and has air cavities, but generally has no nutrients of its own, although this is added by the manufactures before its bagged. Its a good material for growing seedlings and young plants, as it's sterile - it has no seeds of other plants and no diseases etc.

3) Real compost is what you get from a compost heap. Its the composted (hence its name) or decomposed remains of organic matter. Its much richer and more complex that a bag of compost, but it is usually not sterile. ie it has seeds of other plants, and all sorts of micro organisms etc. It is better for your plants and garden, but not being sterile you never know what might grow from it.

4) Manure is organic matter that has composted inside an animal. As opposed to garden compost that has composted outside. People swear by manure, but from what I have read the content and value to the garden is essentially the same as good garden compost. Manure is generally thought of as from a horse, but it could be from any vegetarian animal. You also get manure from meat eating animals, but this is frowned on as composted meat can contain any number of nasty bacteria. Both garden compost and manure add to the organic material in soil, and are a great help in improving the quality of the soil.

5) Mulch. This is simply a physical layer put on top a border to stop the soil drying out in the summer. It can be organic like bark chippings or inorganic like stones or slate chippings or even a piece of plastic - but that doesn't look so good.

 

Thank you Peter - very clear, and answered a lot of questions for me.

So can you use manure as a temporary mulch? I've read several conversations which say to mulch using a manure, and I think that was what initially confused me.

Thanks again.

 

Any material including manure can be used to mulch. You just use different thicknesses of it.

 

Thanks for your comments Paul. As Newbie Green says, you can use any material as a mulch.

One advantage of doing it this way, is that you can spread your manure on top of the soil and let the worms, over a period of time, take it down into the soil itself and mix it up for you. Once you have established plants in a border, its virtually impossable to dig manure in as you will be damaging the roots of the plants.

However, you need to have well composted manure - ie a year or two old. If its too new, it will break down using up nitrogen from the soil and robbing it from your plants. Also you need to ensure it doesn't touch the plants, as it could scorch them if the fertiliser content is too strong.

 

Thanks again. Basic stuff, but you have answered a lot for me! I knew about the need to be careful when using manure and scorching - only because we have rabbits and I thought about using their droppings as a fertiliser instead of buying chicken pellets or something similar.

Following on from this, I realise many plants require specific food types, but when you have options such as pellets, liquids or powders, which tend to be better? Or is this something that simply comes down to individual preference?

 

Paul - There are two basic types of fertiliser. Organic - like blood, fish and bone - ie derived from natural materials, and inorganic - like MiracleGrow - ie produced in a factory. There was a good article in the Garden - the official RHS magazine. In it, it stated that whilst the make up can be different, they all did essentially the same thing, but that the organic products were more expensive.

You then have three other criteria 1) the speed at which it is released 2) the ratio of the active ingredients N, P and K, and 3) cost. You might like to have a look at this thread. http://www.gardenerscorner.co.uk/fo...vei-t193.html?t=193&highlight=fertiliser+cost

My conclusion was that about the cheapest was MiracleGrow, which I use early in the season. And later on I use Phostrogen which has more Potassium (K) which helps flowering and fruiting. But I would never buy a liquid feed, as they are about four times as expensive. Growmore is about the cheapest of the lot, but is not quite as convenient to use.