Chop and Drop: The Frugal Secret to Superior Soil

Imagine getting the benefits of composting without all of the work. Simply use old plants and trimmings as a highly nutritious, directly-applied mulch.

Chop and drop adds fundamental nutrients back into the soil to feed the plants, enhance overall soil fertility, and help improve soil structure. Piyaset/Shutterstock

There’s always “that guy,” the one gardener in every neighborhood who meticulously cleans out their planting area thoroughly at the end of the season, tosses everything out, and then orders bulk commercial fertilizer for the spring crop. Then, there’s the gardener who sneaks out after midnight to grab those valuable bags of old plants and trimmings for their own garden, knowing what a rich source of nutrients they contain that can be easily chopped up and dropped back into the garden.

Whether for a large garden or a small one, the chop and drop method can be invaluable at the end of a growing season and works equally well on an ongoing basis throughout. It’s so easy, there’s no excuse not to do it.

The Why

Chop and drop saves money, which is important as prices for fertilizer and soil amendments go up with runaway inflation, gives the eco-satisfaction of knowing that one is helping keep some waste out of landfill, and saves trips to the garden center to buy soil amendments. How? The initial layer of chop and drop mulch starts by suppressing weeds and reducing the amount of watering needed (if the garden is still active).