Wow, is this just cool and a half to have so many ideas being shared for cheap compost? My leaves have been raked, crushed and applied to the soil. I didn't get near as many this year because we had a few very windy days in Nov., my neighbors leaves and mine in the front yard blew away so I got just half as much. Normally I would use grass clippings but where I placed some, it turned into a weed patch. I didn't say it here but on another forum, a big problem that I have is that our home backs up to the Mojave Desert and also is right in the path of the winds that roar up the Cajon Pass. You can imagine with the loose soil in the desert and the numerous weeds, staying ahead of them takes plenty of effort. I'm not a big fan of chemicals either. We have a mulching mower so we leave the grass clippings and do weed prevention instead. I thought the wood shavings idea was great. You get a lot of coverage once one of those bundles is opened. Of course they would have to be balanced w/nitrogen. I did use the last of our wood pellets for the pellet stove we had and they will expand once water hits them, again nitrogen must be supplied. We don't see utility co's. out trimming around here. We are a new community that has been growning over 16 yrs, expecially the last 3. All of the utilities are underground so no issues with wires and trees. I need to search out some other source ideas, like the Starbucks half a mile away. I do have access to several feed stores as people do have a variety of animals in the surrounding communities. Thank you all for the ideas. I'm sure this will be a great source for many gardners stretching their pennies.

Short answer is - not at all. You should mulch, as widely as possible, around trees, but no deeper than 4", and NO mulch in the couple of inches around the tree. Putting mulch there has several bad effect. 1) It holds moisture against the trunk, which can lead to rotting down the road. Now, I grant it can be 10-15 years before you see any effect, but I can just about guarantee that it will show up. 2) If the mulch is piled too high and too close to the trunk, then the tree roots can't get the proper air exchange in the soil, and will grow roots up into the mulch. This is bad for several reasons, one being that there is little nutrition in the mulch, and the other, and perhaps more important, is that if the mulch dries out, for whatever reason, then the tree roots also dry out. 3) Since you are in zone5, you get snow in the winter. Mice and voles tend to tunnel through mulch to hide and be warm - if they can be right next to the trunk in comfort, they can nibble on the bark, which does the tree no good. Your neighbor is right that it is bad, although probably not about the reason. Which is not to say that girdling roots won't, eventually, kill a tree, just that too high mulch is not likely as a cause of girdling roots. I don't know why any GOOD landscaper does it, although enough of them do it. It does, as you said, mean that little or no grass grows up against the trunk, and thus doesn't need to be pulled or otherwise dealt with, so makes less work. Another reason may be "that it's the way to do it" (as if tradition is the deciding factor for everything!), and another may be that it's a lot easier than trying to explain, and oversee, an ignorant laborer how to do it right. After all, 10-15 years is long enough not to look for trouble that far down the road; he may not be doing the job at that time; if the tree does, he gets to be paid to remove it and replace it; and trees just die, it's got nothing to do with mulching it high up on the trunk. Yeah, RIGHT!!!!

I do not like Missouri Organics compost. It often smells of incomplete breakdown and if you leave a small pile of it out you will notice salts start to build up on the dried edges. I dont care how much cheaper it is - Never again for me. If you are a KC resident you can get free wood mulch from the city. It is NOT the greatest and is not double ground (so some large pieces and trash need to be culled out). You can spread a layer of this and then better mulch on top of it to reduce cost though. MulchMart and Suburban are both ok places in south KC to get mulches. I prefer MulchMart's compost and mulch choices but they are pricey. I do not care for Suburban's compost (they cut it with field soil and that increases annual weeds). It often smells of incomplete breakdown too but not as bad as MoOrganics. I think it is Mart(?) Brothers about Roe and Merriam Dr also have decent double ground mulch for those in central KC, nrth JoCo or south WyCo. If buying soil Johnson County topsoil is the way to go. I dont recall the name but there is a company in Blue Springs/Lee's Summit that sells both pulverized soil and sterile soil (I suspect they steam it). That is pricey though but worth it if you have the money or are concerned about adding weeds. Avoid soils which come from the river bottoms (specifically ask were it came from). It is often sandy, has a low organic material content so it compacts quickly and is often FULL of weeds.

All  I wanted to get some advice on purchasing red mulch by the yard in Piscataway NJ. I need 2 cubic yards and cannot seem to find a place with quality mulch willing to deliver. I have bought from a nursery on Durham / Talmiage but they do not carry red much anymore. Any suggestions / references would be appreciated. Thanks, -Help wanted