Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum

Cultivation => Composts => Topic started by: Graham Catlow on August 18, 2015, 07:13:43 PM

Title: Council Compost
Post by: Graham Catlow on August 18, 2015, 07:13:43 PM
I have access to a council recycling site less than a mile from home and am wondering what people think of the compost created by local councils. Sometimes it looks ok and other times I wouldn't touch it. The good thing is it is free but I would have to bag it myself and that isn't the easiest task and there would have to be many journeys.

On the other hand a company (Scotbark) deliver cubic meter bags of compost (PAS 100 certified) or composted bark for £70 per bag. This is quite expensive but looks better quality and would arrive at my home.

This would be for a large border that needs some bulk and will eventually contain rhododendrons and other ericaceous plants.

Your thoughts would be appreciated.
Title: Re: Council Compost
Post by: jomowi on August 18, 2015, 08:30:06 PM
Graham, I tried the Council's free compost the first year I came here as like yourself I missed the 'home grown' stuff and had inherited a garden which was seriously lacking in organic matter.  Never again - I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole.  It is full of rubbish and in my case was sopping wet having lain in the open which meant I couldn't put too much in a bag because of the weight.  Luckily, I didn't import any pernicious weeds that had survived the composting process.  There is a lot of Equisetum in this area for instance.  Anything bought in is going to be expensive, but will at least get you started until you can get your own going.
Title: Re: Council Compost
Post by: Lesley Cox on August 19, 2015, 02:09:06 AM
Seventy pounds a bag! My God! How big is the bag? It would need to be the size of a ten tonne truck at that price.
Title: Re: Council Compost
Post by: Chris Johnson on August 19, 2015, 08:11:59 AM
Seventy pounds a bag! My God! How big is the bag? It would need to be the size of a ten tonne truck at that price.

They're cubic metre bags, Lesley, what the building trade term tonne bags for delivering various types of aggregate.

Shrikes me as quite good value and would be grateful if they were available here.
Title: Re: Council Compost
Post by: angie on August 19, 2015, 09:31:50 AM
Delivery is what costs so much up here. I ordered some soil from our local recycling yard for a job my hubby was doing and when the lorry arrived at the job I told him just to take it back. He wasn't happy but then again I wasn't either. Their upfill is the same , blue gloves, glass and bits of plastic tops are all visible. Maybe other places are better but I wont be using my local recycling yard again.

Graham I have two compost bins full, shame I have a little boot in my car  ;) Hope to catch up with you soon and see your garden.

Angie  :)
Title: Re: Council Compost
Post by: rgc on August 19, 2015, 10:27:45 AM
Hi
Stirling Council has free compost available from their recycling centre. You are allowed to fill two bags in each visit which you fill yourself. Have found it very good and much better than I could produce. Some people of course take unfair advantage. Recently, when I arrived to get some compost a man with a trailer stopped filling it up and made a quick getaway.

I assume that the Council achieve quite high temperatures and have not had any problem with it introducing any weeds into the garden. There is sometimes the odd piece of small plastic, but that is fairly unusual.

If it has been raining a lot recently then the compost can be sodden and so it is best to go after there has been no rain for a few days.
Bob
Title: Re: Council Compost
Post by: monocotman on August 19, 2015, 10:53:46 AM
Hi,

here in sunny Cambridgeshire/Suffolk we are lucky that we can have the green compost for free from Donarbons.
We just have to go pick it up like you or pay for the transport, usually a 6 tonne truck.
This costs me about £100 for this quantity.
You just have to have somewhere big enough for it to be tipped.
I have had three loads over the years and quality depends on when it was composted.
By far the best time to get some is early autumn when the summer prunings from the leylandii hedges constitute the bulk of the compost.
This stuff is pretty good. It gets a lot more ropey if ordered in spring and the winter waste is what is used for compost.
It comes still hot and steaming from the site and is completely weed free.

Regards,

David
Title: Re: Council Compost
Post by: angie on August 19, 2015, 11:08:11 AM
Maybe its worth me trying Aberdeen City Council to see if they do this. I have to keep an eye on my compost incase hubby pinches it for a landscaping job  ;D. Maggi do you know if they do this ? Hate their website.

Angie  :)
Title: Re: Council Compost
Post by: Lesley Cox on August 19, 2015, 11:15:21 AM
I remember that some years ago the Council's (not Dunedin, but where I lived before I moved here) compost caused some major problems for gardeners because it contained large numbers of used condoms. It was found they were incorporating treated sewage in the brew. Would probably have been OK but for the condoms! Not a good look among the snowdrops. :o
Title: Re: Council Compost
Post by: Maggi Young on August 19, 2015, 02:58:56 PM
Maybe its worth me trying Aberdeen City Council to see if they do this. I have to keep an eye on my compost in case hubby pinches it for a landscaping job  ;D. Maggi do you know if they do this ? Hate their website.

Angie  :)
I don't know , Angie - I would think they do because they collect green waste - but I may remember having heard it all goes to somewhere in Aberdeenshire for composting . will ask Ian if he knows anything.
Title: Re: Council Compost
Post by: angie on August 19, 2015, 06:35:50 PM
I don't know , Angie - I would think they do because they collect green waste - but I may remember having heard it all goes to somewhere in Aberdeenshire for composting . will ask Ian if he knows anything.

Hi Maggi

Thanks, I will have a look on their website tonight and see if I can find a link.

Had to laugh at Lesley's comment  ;D

Angie  :)
Title: Re: Council Compost
Post by: Maggi Young on August 19, 2015, 07:01:06 PM
Found a link on the Council site - all green waste is taken to New Deer, to be recycled by Keenan Recycling
"Food and garden waste

Food and garden waste is transported to New Deer in Aberdeenshire and processed by Keenan Recycling. The material is stored and processed in order to produce BSI accredited compost products which are used as fertiliser and soil. These are available for residents to purchase at New Deer.  "   

http://www.keenanrecycling.co.uk/ (http://www.keenanrecycling.co.uk/)   - but  I can't see what they charge - and it would mean a  trip to exotic New Deer to find out how  good the stuff is!!
Title: Re: Council Compost
Post by: ChrisB on August 19, 2015, 07:28:16 PM
Our wonderful Northumberland Council charge us £25 per bin for our garden waste. Then they compost it and want us to pay over £100 for a tonne dumpy bag or £3 for a puny 25litre prebagged one. No option of being able to go get my own!
Title: Re: Council Compost
Post by: ian mcdonald on August 19, 2015, 08:21:39 PM
Hello Chris, can you compost your own? A shredder would be needed for the twiggy bits.
Title: Re: Council Compost
Post by: Graham Catlow on August 19, 2015, 08:56:05 PM
Thanks for your replies,
It seems there is an issue with the quality from batch to batch which is what I have observed.
It appears some councils aim to get some money back for their efforts but my local recycling centre offer the compost for free and there isn't a limit on the amount you can take. I suspect that there may be a different regulation for people turning up with vans and trailers but for me with an estate car and a few bags there's no questioning.

In comparison to garden centre compost the Scotbark option is good value.

I have started my own composting but this will take some time and will have little effect on the amount I need.
Title: Re: Council Compost
Post by: ChrisB on August 19, 2015, 09:57:23 PM
Hi Ian
Yes I suppose I might be able compost my own, but I don't have the energy needed for turning it these days and I don't have tons of space to give over to it anyway. We did do it for a long while but now.... I just get tired too easily!
Title: Re: Council Compost
Post by: angie on August 19, 2015, 10:38:18 PM
Found a link on the Council site - all green waste is taken to New Deer, to be recycled by Keenan Recycling
"Food and garden waste

Food and garden waste is transported to New Deer in Aberdeenshire and processed by Keenan Recycling. The material is stored and processed in order to produce BSI accredited compost products which are used as fertiliser and soil. These are available for residents to purchase at New Deer.  "   

http://www.keenanrecycling.co.uk/ (http://www.keenanrecycling.co.uk/)   - but  I can't see what they charge - and it would mean a  trip to exotic New Deer to find out how  good the stuff is!!
That's interesting Maggi. You would make a good detective, you always find an answer. They are digging up the moss that is at the back of my old house and I am tempted to stop and ask if I can get a lorry load, it's lovely peaty soli. Watching these huge diggers plough through the moss to make way for the new bypass. Might just ask  ;D
Angie  :)
Title: Re: Council Compost
Post by: Maggi Young on August 20, 2015, 12:19:55 PM
Never hurts to try, Angie!

Christine, we've been making great compost for all these many years and we've never turned one once! Ian holds that if it is built well, with nice mix of content and able to get a good heat up it make wonderful stuff on its own. Must say that after 40 plus years of this method with great results, I would agree with him.
In the same way that life is "too short to stuff a mushroom", it is definitely too short to turn a compost heap!
Title: Re: Council Compost
Post by: SusanS on August 20, 2015, 05:47:43 PM
Whether you source your compost from a private supplier or a council run green waste scheme, it is always best to get PAS100 certified material. 

Some of the private firms also use the material collected via household recycling or waste management centres, (same as the council) to make their compost, so it is definitely worth paying that little bit extra for the certified material.  In order to get this status the material will have been heated to a temperature hot enough to destroy pathogens and weed seeds, sieved to remove particulates such as glass, plastics and pH adjusted (recycled green waste has a tendency to be slightly alkaline).   

The contents of the 'compost bins' varies greatly with the time of year - in winter it is often full of old Christmas trees and other such woody materials, in summer it is heavy on the old grass clippings.  So not only does the appearance vary from batch to batch, so does the nutritional content and structure.   

Have had some interesting lectures / talks on this subject at college (from WRAP and commercial compost producers), it is a much more complex process than I ever imagined, but one things for certain in light of what I have learnt - I would only purchase PAS 100 material.

Susan
Title: Re: Council Compost
Post by: ChrisB on August 20, 2015, 06:24:30 PM
That's handy to know Susan!
Title: Re: Council Compost
Post by: rgc on August 25, 2015, 11:06:02 AM
Hi
As my supply of Council compost was finished, went yesterday to the Stirling Council recycling centre near Fallin and filled two bags. Lovely looking crumbly material. At the centre, it is in a separate area with parking for about 6 cars and is just piled up in a heap which they replenish regularly - once when I arrived it was still hot and steaming. The notice states that collection is restricted to Stirling Council ratepayers and to two bags, but the area is unsupervised.

There is no sign that it is certified PAS 100, but it is free. It contains a small number of small pieces of plastic, but they are easily removed.  Given the quantity of material that they have, I have always assumed that the production process reaches high temperatures and certainly have had no problems with it introducing weeds. As they are not selling it, they have no pressure to get it certified as PAS 100, but what would it have that would make it likely to fail that certification?

I mix the compost with garden soil and use that when planting new things. Had used up the last of the compost when planting purchases from the SRGC Dunblane show last Saturday.
Bob
Title: Re: Council Compost
Post by: brianw on August 25, 2015, 10:28:23 PM
One of the problems used to be lawn weed killer not being broken down. You are supposed to put the first cuttings after treatment into the landfill bin but I doubt many people bother.
Title: Re: Council Compost
Post by: rgc on August 26, 2015, 10:22:10 AM
One of the problems used to be lawn weed killer not being broken down. You are supposed to put the first cuttings after treatment into the landfill bin but I doubt many people bother.
Thanks. Yes, I can see that council compost would contain some material like that, but likely to be in only a small proportion. Would it still be a problem in a very low concentration? Also doubt that PAS 100 certification would guarantee its absence.
Bob
Title: Re: Council Compost
Post by: rgc on October 12, 2015, 04:05:47 PM
Just been to the Council recycling centre to deposit some things and to fill another couple of bags with their free compost. It is much better than anything that I have been able to produce.

Was a bit concerned it might be very wet, but a new load had recently been dumped and it was still warm and very friable. Took a picture of the 8 foot high pile of compost which is shown below. You have to bring your own bags (maximum 2) and fill them yourself. How much you put in a bag is restricted to what you can lift into your boot!

There is no supervision - just the notice shown in the second picture.
Title: Re: Council Compost
Post by: rgc on October 15, 2015, 09:07:36 PM
Watched tonight's episode of Beechgrove Garden. They were quite positive about council compost.
Title: Re: Council Compost
Post by: Graham Catlow on May 16, 2017, 05:51:37 PM
Thought I would show a photo of a border that I put a load of council compost on last August when I started this thread.

So nine months on it looks like this. Not bad methinks. :)

Edit. (Just been informed that I lost a year somewhere. ::) The compost has been on the garden for 21months)

[attachimg=1]





Title: Re: Council Compost
Post by: brianw on May 16, 2017, 07:07:29 PM
Quote from: Graham Catlow l))ink=topic=13473.msg377446#msg377446 date=1494953497
Thought I would show a photo of a border that I put a load of council compost on last August when I started this thread.

So nine months on it looks like this. Not bad methinks. :)

(Attachment)
Think you lost a year Graham ;-)

Just noticed an earlier post showed a sign that mixes cardboard with green waste. Definitely a no-no here. Cardboard goes with paper here.
Title: Re: Council Compost
Post by: Graham Catlow on May 16, 2017, 07:59:19 PM
Think you lost a year Graham ;-)

Just noticed an earlier post showed a sign that mixes cardboard with green waste. Definitely a no-no here. Cardboard goes with paper here.


Oh My! Have I really been here that long! I thought it was doing rather well after nine months. But still it shows that council compost can be ok you just need to be selective about the type you collect. I have turned away several times when I didn't think it looked good.

We also separate our cardboard from our green waste.
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