You're right but I personally don't mulch to keep weeds out, only to keep moisture in and improve the soil. Bark and other materials are better for preventing weeds, but you'll also prevent self-sown seedlings, which I enjoy too much to give up. It's a trade off.

I understand your question, idabean, and it's the same one I asked. However, in practice, compost does, indeed, make a good mulch. I'm guessing it's that the compost process has killed the weed seeds that were in it and it takes time for bird or wind carried seed to be deposited into the area. By the time the seed is ready to germinate, you've laid down more....? Honest. It makes good mulch.

Thanks- I am not going to assume the seeds were killed by the town's composting process, although it is really the best looking stuff I've seen from them. Usually it full of hunks of 'stuff'. Perhaps they reached a point of composting long enough that's there some that had time to really rot.
MT

words mean things..

and compost is not mulch.. by the definitions ....

though it doesnt matter how you use the actual product ....

do whatever makes you happy .... you can always go back to the old way.. if the new ways fails .... eh???

ken

I got some well aged horse manure from a neighbor. it was crumbly black stuff for the most part. I noticed the huge pile he had, had no weeds growing on it. I have had it down for prob a month now, using it as a top dressing, plus working it into areas i am planting. I have no increase in weeds.
Tammy

I've been using compost for mulch for years. I do think it keeps the weeds down. Probably not as good as bark but I won't use bark, I hate digging in it and I move plants a lot. Plus, I like how the black looks as opposed to red bark.

{{gwi:230739}}

I top-dress with compost. It's the only "fertilizer" I ever use in my garden, and it's the only "mulch", too. It does help to keep moisture in (compost is both well draining and moisture retentive), and, while it may not technically suppress weeds, it's a whole heck of a lot easier to pull weed seedlings from fresh, light mulch than it is to pull weeds from compacted clay garden soil.

Oh Ken, I know words mean things...if I could go back to the sources that said "mulch with compost" .....I've seen it stated just that way. I don't equate mulch with compost either
However, mulch and compost can be nouns or verbs and I suppose one could mulch with compost or compost the mulch. Words mean things, other things and things you'd never imagine you thought they meant. Hence dialects, idioms, puns, similes and metaphors!
I think a thread on garden metaphors would be fun. But then I'm a language lover who likes sounds and sees pictures of words.

"Mulch" is anything that is applied to the surface of the soil so of course compost can be considered a mulch if used in that manner. There is no single product that is 'mulch' - it can be anything at hand.......rocks, gravel, leaves, grass clippings, shredded tires, bark, etc. - a very long list of possibilities. And all will have some degree of weed suppression, some better than others.

Like carrieb, compost is the only mulch I use in my garden and also the primary nutrient source. I prefer the appearance of compost as a mulch, especially with perennials. Other popular mulches, like bark or wood chips, offer a different appearance I don't care for (too clunky) and they do not offer the same degree of nutrient supplementation.

The finer textured the mulch, the more likely it is to serve as a seed bed for the germination of wind-driven weed seeds, so some weeding is still sometimes necessary. AFAIC, a bit of weeding now and again is a reasonable trade off for the advantages compost offers as a mulch. And the weeds are easily removed, thanks to the loose texture of the compost. And as the season progresses and the perennials fill in and the shrubs leaf out, there is very little bare soil showing and therefore limited opportunities for weeds anyway.

Thanks, gardengal, for your clarity.
mt

As Gardengal mentioned, part of the equation is aesthetics. I don't particularly care for how compost looks as mulch, to my eye beds looks "unfinished", particularly shrub beds.

I topdress with compost, I don't use wood mulch. Compost amends the soil and improves it, wood mulch just sits there. I know some people claim it decomposes, but that doesn't seem to happen here. I prefer prefer the look of plain dirt/compost beds over wood mulch. I tried mulch, and I didn't find it really helps with weeds. And I move plants all the time, so the mulch and dirt were getting mixed together and it looked messy.

Doesn't mulch turn into compost eventually anyways? Mine always rots. I noticed last year's mulch is now decomposing. I guess it's a matter of whatever you prefer. I use pine mulch. I like it and it's easier to find than the compost.