Forum home› Problem solving
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Nursery dumped their rubbish on us!

myclayjunglemyclayjungle Posts: 162
in Problem solving
 I've only needed/used bagged compost previously, but now have a large garden and bought several saplings from a nursery.  Along with the trees we'd paid for, the nursery owner delivered a 1/2 truck load of the compost for 'free'.

Problem is- its full of rubbish. Golf ball sized rocks, large pieces of wood, bits of plastic, wire and even glass!  I realise they have just dumped their contaminated compost on us and I clearly won't be going back.

If you had compost delivered by the tonne etc, how much (if any) contamination would you expect?
Coastal Suffolk/Essex Border- Clay soil
«1

Posts

  • KT53KT53 Posts: 9,016
    That nursery has really shot itself in the foot.  They would have been better not providing anything 'free' if the result was a very unhappy customer.  That customer is not going to return and is probably going to tell their friends what happened.
    It's not true to say you get what you pay for either.  When we had our garden remodelled we had a large delivery of supposed topsoil.  The landscaper took one look at it on the back of the lorry and told them to take it back and bring proper topsoil.  That first load looed very much as the compost described by myclayjungle.  Full of 'rubbish' to put it politely.  The second load had obviously been screened properly, and that supplier lost a customer.  Not us, but the landscaper who would obviously have an ongoing requirement for topsoil but wouldn't risk using them again.
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    My local nursery used to have a big heap of compost from which you could fill your own bags for a couple of quid. They got it delivered from one of the companies that do all the green waste composting for the council so it was always full of stuff that gardeners had put into their green waste bags and it turns out people put all sorts of other rubbish in there too. The company probably should have run it through a screen before selling it on but clearly didn't bother. It was still great soil improver though. I found a small bottle in one batch that turned out to have 'micro enema' written on it 🤢
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    I had 20 ton delivered - no bits of anything in it. Not even any stones-
    but of course i had to pay for it



    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Does that mean your garden is now much wider than it used to be @Pete.8 ? 😉 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    @myclayjungle I think you need to tell the nursery how upset you are that they would dump a load of crap on you and ask them to remove it because free crap is worse than no compost at all.   Tell them they will lose you custom if they don't shift it and that you won't hesitate to name and shame them on public media as well as reporting them to the local environmental officer for illegal dumping of dangerous rubbish.


    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    Dovefromabove said:
    Does that mean your garden is now much wider than it used to be @Pete.8 ? 😉 

    🤣



    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • myclayjunglemyclayjungle Posts: 162
    Thank you everyone. It is surprising, because the nursery owner had been to our property and was aware we would be ordering far more than just the 1st order of saplings!  Glad to know its not the norm to be so contaminated.

    @Pete.8 Your pile of soil looks lovely, with no random bits in it! (Sorry, that sounds a bit odd!)   :-)

    Coastal Suffolk/Essex Border- Clay soil
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    myclayjungle said:


    @Pete.8 Your pile of soil looks lovely, with no random bits in it! (Sorry, that sounds a bit odd!)   :-)

    Depends if you count my neighbours or not :)

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Sign In or Register to comment.