stuff with bigger chunks in it ....

make your own mix .... a lot of sellers have the capability of mixing.. lets say ... larger wood chips.. with finer compost ...

other wise... order a yard of each.. tell them to dump it on the driveway.. and mix it as you apply it ...

also ... never got the hang of hoeing... that is hard work ...

try a pitchfork.. or 3 tine rake... jabs through easier...

what might be the problem.. is that you are using COMPOST as a MULCH .... and it isnt working.. words mean things... and you are finding that the compost mats up .. while a mulch should be course enough not too ....

if you were to add a good mulch over the product you are having problems with... then that mat would never dry ... but the mulch would ... make sense...

good luck

ken

Actually, I didn't mean a hoe ... it's a 3-tine thing that I've been using. I've tried a pitchfork, too, but that's heavier.

I think you may have hit on the problem, Ken. The city calls it mulch, but it may be closer to compost by the time they sell it. It's really steaming when they dump it in my pickup---lovely stuff! Breaks down in a couple of years, by which time with any luck, the new plants have filled in enough that I don't need to mulch.

Next time I'll try mixing some bigger pieces in. Thanks for the suggestion!