Posted: July 28, 2026
Every good gardener must be open to new ideas, especially those backed by scientific research. Instead of making all your compost in designated bins, there is a new method called Chop and Drop.
Plants love living in close communities. There is little room for weeds or disease
I am a huge proponent of making compost. I have two big compost bins somewhat out of sight at the back of my house, and I make a lot of compost. I have always said I wouldn't know how to garden without it. I still contend that this is true. I started my first garden using mushroom soil (which is basically compost) and have made my own compost ever since.
There is no gardening expert alive who wouldn't agree that the soil is the most important part of your garden! The cure to just about any gardening dilemma seems to begin with adding organic material to the soil. My gardens get at least an inch or two of compost applied every year.
Chop and drop method
Why would I be recommending a method called Chop and Drop instead of bin composting? Well, for one thing, making compost in bins is a lot of work. You carry all the ingredients to the bin to dump it in, you turn the pile periodically, then you shovel it all back out and push it in the wheelbarrow to spread it. With the chop and drop method, you pull the weeds, drop it on the ground, and you're done! The end result is still organic matter being recycled back into your garden soil.
Root communities method
Currently, besides Chop and Drop composting, there is another huge, new concept in ecological gardening. That concept involves covering the soil with roots rather than mulch. Scientists are realizing that plants do much better growing in communities rather than in little isolated islands surrounded by mulch.
After much scientific discussion, the conclusion is that the more roots in the ground, the better. Soil microbes keep your plants healthy. Plant roots secrete exudates, which feed those microbes. The roots also break up compaction and stop erosion - all things mulch cannot do.
You can easily achieve these results by planting ground covers and ground-covering plants. There is a difference between the two. Ground covers are generally thought of as low-growing plants. Ground covering plants can be taller, and usually spread by stolons (runners) or seed, until they cover a good portion of the soil while intermingling with other desirable plants.
Once your soil is covered by plants instead of mulch, it will be healthier, and your plants will be happier and less inclined to disease.
The other plus to combining these two concepts is that between the thick ground covering layer of plants and the chop and drop compost, the number of weeds is greatly decreased, and there is very little need to buy mulch every year. This not only saves you work and money, but it also greatly reduces your chances of introducing the dreaded jumping worms to your gardens (the most common way to contract them is in bulk mulch).
Now, you might say that you don't like this idea of chop and drop because you don't want to look at dead weeds that have just been dropped on your soil. If you use this idea of a very thick growth of plants, you won't see what you drop under the leaves. I still make a lot of my bin compost, but I have also been using chop and drop with good success.
When I am working in a section where I have achieved good plant coverage, I toss the weed under the foliage, if it is not diseased and has not yet produced seeds. The weeds simply disappear beneath the foliage, and you really never notice them.
Sometimes, you can read on the internet that you must thoroughly clean your garden's floor every fall so pests and disease spores are removed. I agree that you do want to clean up under a diseased plant and dispose of the diseased parts, and it is true that pests lay their eggs close to plants their babies will eat, but so do butterflies and other beneficial insects. Vegetables have a lot of pests, but in a properly maintained ornamental and habitat garden, we are trying to protect and encourage those beneficial insects that will work to keep any pests in check.
The chop and drop cuttings, along with dropped leaves from the trees and shrubs in the fall, make up what is called the duff. The duff is where beneficial insects hide, and butterfly eggs are often found there. The duff is what supports the diet of the songbirds during the winter. The decomposing duff helps feed your plants. The duff, along with ground-covering plants, is what creates the soft landings for beneficial insect larvae and caterpillars when they drop from the trees to burrow into the soil to pupate. You want the duff!
These two gardening methods represent a completely new concept for most of us gardeners, but those of us interested in promoting a healthier earth are listening. If you are not completely sold on these new ideas, take a small section of your garden and give the new methods a try. I'm pretty sure you will soon be expanding the areas where you use them!
Barb Mrgich is a Penn State Master Gardener from Adams County. Penn State Cooperative Extension of Adams County is located at 670 Old Harrisburg Road, Suite 204, Gettysburg, 717-334-6271.
Saturday, August 1, 2026, 10 am - 1 pm: America's 250th Garden Party! Hosted by Master Gardeners, this free event features activities for children and 18th-century gardening techniques. Meet us in the demonstration gardens at the Ag Center, 670 Old Harrisburg Road, Gettysburg.
Master Gardener Hotline is open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, from 10 am to 2 pm. Please send an email (with pictures, if possible) to adamsmg@psu.edu with your gardening questions, call us at 717-334-6271, or stop by Penn State Extension, 670 Old Harrisburg Rd, Gettysburg.
Interested in becoming a Master Gardener, or learning more about the program? Contact Mary Ann Ryan, mar35@psu.edu, for more information or an application. Applications are being accepted through August 31.
