It's simple at the top level. Compost is rotted-down organic material. Mulch is a physical place.

From what is written in that link I can see why beginners might be confused, and the first reply here does not help any at all. Gardengal does pretty good with mulch. Compost is a mixture of organic matter that has been digested by various bacteria and fungi and is used as a soil amendment although it can also be a mulch.

kimmq is kimmsr

I know that for years when I was a kid, I would help Dad when he was mowing by hauling the grass clippings out back to the 'mulch pile.' It was really a poorly managed compost pile and had nothing to do with mulch. Lots of people don't know the difference.

Water is # 1, then compost is #2, then Mulch is #3.

Hold in water & compost, keep weeds down.

GG keeps me safe from my really bad writing! Compost is a thing that can be defined loosely as rotted OM. Mulch is not a THING, it's what you do with a thing, whether that thing is compost, straw, ground up tyres, feathers, old rubber baby mattress pads,and so on. If you take what's called "mulch" and bury it, it's not mulch; it's something else. To say "I got some mulch" or "I'm going to mulch those Sequoias" is so vague it means nothing without further info.

Don't ask me about the difference between "soil" and "dirt". I won't shut up for a week.

Compost, " A mixture of organic material, as from leaves and manure, that has decayed or has been digested by organisms, used to improve soil structure and provide nutrients." From a dictionary.

Mulch, a material, usually organic, that is placed on soil to aid in 1. unwanted plant growth suppression, 2. aid in maintaining soil moisture levels, 3. aid in keeping soil temperatures moderate, and 4. aid in supplying organic material to soil. From my memory.

The same material used as mulch that is "buried" in soil is a soil amendment.

As the word compost can be a noun, the name of something, as well as a verb, an action, so can the word mulch as in "I bought some mulch" (a noun) or "I am going to mulch (a verb) the garden."

Soil is what you grow plants in. Dirt is what you track into the house.

kimmq is kimmsr

Whoo Boy! Mulch is a verb and a noun! Serious gardeners do not associate the word with purchased, Home Depot wood chips as much as novices do..

If you really want to be a gardener, learn what mulch really is. You can learn about compost later.

annpat, mulch is a noun, a material that is spread on the garden. You spread mulch but you do not really mulch, although there are some that use the term that way, erroneously.

kimmq is kimmsr

Wow. I better let those yahoos over at Merriam-Webster, Cambridge and Oxford know that they are erroneously acknowledging the verb form of "mulch".

Kimmsr, you just had an argument with yourself, and one of you lost.

Mulch is a physical place in Richmond County.

Mulch, VA 22460