COMPOST REVIEW 2013

I dropped into B&Q last night and bought 125 litres of their "Verve" Peat Free General Purpose Compost......and now I wish I hadn't. The texture of the compost is very fibrous and lumpy with small bit of twigs and a dark brown matty substance that we're supposed to grow plant's in. If that is their alternative to compost with peat in it I'll have to stick with compost that has peat in it. I've tried filling pots with it and it goes in in lumps with no even texture to it at all. I make better in my own Compost Heap and would probably get better from the local Landfill site. Not impressed and I won't buy any more, while the 125 litres I've bought will be dumped on the borders somewhere.

 

Hi Madahhalia. Well, I buy between 1500 and 200 litres of general purpose peat mixed compost each year and I thought I'd try peat free to see if it was useable and be a bit more "green". They still sell Peat Mixed General Purpose Compost and I notice it has actually gone down in price. I paid £7.25p for 125 litres last year and it is now £5.98p as is the Peat Free. Having been disappointed by the Peat Free I will now only buy a test sack of the Peat Mixed General Purpose Compost before buying it in quantities. They re-branded their compost last year and gave it a "With it" name of Verve but I'm always suspicious of moves like that as it normally ends in a lowering of the quality covered by bright packaging and marketing.
Yes, there is a site on the Net where customers can complain and I have done that saying their product in not a quality product nor a alternative to Peat Mixed Compost, and that it will only do damage to their reputation.

 

My problem is, Mowgley, that I need to buy in at least 125 litre sacks because [a] it's usually cheaper, it a lot easier to shift 8 sacks of 125 litres than 24/25 60 litre sacks.
I'm off work tomorrow so I might just take it back but it's a 40 mile round trip to my nearest B&Q, where I bought it from, which is a unnecessary trip and will be a couple of hours of my time when I've done.

Durston's??? It sounds good stuff but I never seen it for sale around here.

 

I've had a quick look, Spruce, and I can't find any suitable thread

 

I wouldn't use it for potting, Joolz, as it really is so bad as to be, in my opinion, useless. It comes away in bitty, matted lumps that has no proper compost texture to it. I like my compost to be crumbly and B&Q Peat Free is just a mess and not fit for potting.