I've got heaps of compost and wonder if I'd be better to apply it before winter rather than waiting for spring.

We have a chilly local climate and there's little or no decomposition taking place when the ground is frozen: November - April.

Anyone have experience with this?

I apply mine whenever it is ready. If you apply it now, it might protect the soil a bit over the winter, and also give the nutrients time to sink in before spring.

subarctic said:I've got heaps of compost and wonder if I'd be better to apply it before winter rather than waiting for spring.
We have a chilly local climate and there's little or no decomposition taking place when the ground is frozen: November - April.
Anyone have experience with this?

Depends on what you want to use it for.
I have sub-zero climate in winter and always apply it on, or into, the garden in spring.

Will it serve as a mulch and keep weed seeds from germinating?
Do you need to make room to start more compost?

I have to empty my larger composting efforts in the fall right before and during leaf season in order to make way for the new massive influx of leaves. So, I apply late fall/early winter until I run out (saving some for potting soil). Leaves are really the limiting factor for me as they're only available for a short period. So...it's make hay while the sun shines!

Now what that means is that often the compost is not as fine as it could be...sometimes even a little chunky. I make and use so much, I'm not about to sift it. I do a little bit of that for potting soil in the spring. It will continue to break down wherever it's deposited. I tend to overfill to allow for a reduction in mass that continues to occur. However, most of the compost in fall is roughly a year old except for some finer inputs like coffee grounds, tea, SCOBY and other kombucha wastes, and pulverized/blended eggshell.