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Westland alternative!

peteSpeteS Posts: 966
in Plants
Having had several poor experiences recently in the content of Westland's composts I decided I would try a different brand, without realising how much Westland completely dominates the market in garden centres, and other outlets. I tried several GC's in my area, all had Westland and no other make. Great example of Westland marketing, but not very good for the consumer.

Posts

  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Independent garden centres will give you a better choice.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • AstraeusAstraeus Posts: 336
    It is still Westland but Jack's Magic is good.
  • ElferElfer Posts: 329
    I get my compost from a local supplier who specializes in compost and soil recommended by a gardener. He has a bespoke mix which contains feed for 12 to 18 months and charges £5.50 for a 80L bag. Think pretty much all the local gardeners and landscape companies buy their compost from them as I see their Van's loading up jumbo bags on each visit.

    I am not a newbie but the compost texture is way better than the stuff I bought from GC such as JI, westland, Jack's magic etc and I think seeing local gardeners recommendations and seeing their trucks lining up to buy speaks volumes too.
  • peteSpeteS Posts: 966
    @Elfer
    I agree, but there are no similar suppliers in my area, none who would supply the small amounts I need anyway.
    The drop in quality (at least in my opinion) is a recent thing. I've had some very good bags of No3 from GC's, but not recently. Whether it's a shift towards more eco friendly ingredients or a cost cutting thing, I don't know. 
  • ElferElfer Posts: 329
    Could be due to supply issues too, the local supplier I was talking about had ran out of the special compost last week as he was getting it from N. Ireland and was a bit unsure about when he would have the next lot in. 
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    I've been using Bord na Mona Growise composts for the last few years and have been very happy with the results.
    I get the one in the purple or orange bag.
    They also sell one with 'green' waste which has had less favourable reviews

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • shazza 3shazza 3 Posts: 197
    unfortunately, we don't have any local suppliers where i live and have to use whatever is sold in larger GC's. Our local council used to take food scraps/garden waste to compost it and give it to us free of charge but they've stopped that now in favour of sending food waste to be incinerated to produce electricity. not sure what they do with garden waste.   
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