In listening to posts and watching on tv, I get the impression that some folks use compost as a layering rather than mulch...is this right?
Since I don't have my own compost bin and DH probably won't let me try to make one I have to rely on buying it. What am I looking for exactly?
In the past I have bought bark pieces, shredded cedar, wood chips, colored wood shredded pieces. But it seems like I hear them say on tv that they use a mulch that breaks down and can be worked into the soil, is this true? Or you add new to the old to freshen it up....I'm really confused on what to get.
My newest flower beds last year I used newspaper first then added the colored wood shredded pieces. Well the winds have blown some of the wood pieces all over and I need to add or replace, what do I buy? My biggest source is Walmart or maybe the ag supplier....please help.

Compost is a soil amendment material, it is a living soil organism and if properly done will have a lot of the necessary Soil Food Web critters that will make you garden soil alive. Compost is organic matter that all soils need and is the one part of your soil you control adding more when necessary or not adding any. The mineral portion of your soil is not something you can easily change.
Mulch is also organic matter and the best mulch to use is something that the soil bacteria can asily break down such as shredded leaves, wood chips, etc. and not stones or shredded tires, something that will add value to your soil. Mulches are laid on the soils surface to aid in "weed" suppression, moisture retention, keeping the soil cooler, and adding organic matter to that soil.
Some people, erroneoulsy, use the terms interchangeably and they should not because they do both serve different purposes. Compost could be used as a mulch, but if compost dries out the bacteria that make it a living organism will go dormant until it is moist again. Best would be to lay down some compost (I put down about 1/2 inch every fall) and then cover that with a mulch which wil then keep the compost moist and the bacteria active working on getting that compost into the soil.