Westland smart ground cover review

Just thought I would give a review on this mulch type ground cover. I’ll try to be detailed without droning on too much, I’ll cover the below subjects.

price
How it looks ( including a quick pic)
How far it goes
How well it works
My personal thoughts
Long term use thoughts

So price,I have managed to buy locally for £10 a bag which I thought was a bit too much at first when a big bale bag of bark chip mulch is available for around £7.

How it looks, see pics for how it looks in a pot and a raised bed. It has a grey look when dry which I quite like and is quite distinctive.

How far it goes, I was shocked just how far a bag of this spreads it is extremely compact in the bag. I found that pouring some in a tub or barrow and breaking it up is the way to handle this stuff. It definitely goes as far as a bale type bag of bark chip.

How well it works, I’m going to tell you right away that I love this stuff after putting this down last Friday. It has kept the moisture in the pots and beds even in the non stop sun over here in Norfolk over the last week. It hasn’t blown around even though it’s light and fluffy it locks together in a strange way like a fibre carpet.(as you can see in the pot picture)

Personal thoughts, The best bit about this stuff for me is when watering over it it soaks up the water like cotton wool meaning no run off or crust on dry soil. Love the way it looks, and now I have found it for£7 a bag at bunnings so same price as a bale of bark chip.

Long term use, I have also thought of long term use and several things have crossed my mind.

Weeding shouldn’t be a problem if some come up as the way this locks together means it’s easier to scrape back around weeds to get access.

Planting after putting this down should be easy for the same reason.

Finally the local cats have left it alone they had been in the beds while they were bare soil but not since this has been down.

That’s it for me tried to keep it short but detailed. If people on here like reviews like this I’ll do more. I know I personally like to look stuff up before splashing money out on something that I’ve never used before.

 

My Homebase Clearance Outlet has this at a good price.
I'll pick up a bag.

 

What about birds looking for nesting material? They made a right mess of my hanging baskets one year when I used a wooly type liner.

 

They don't have it at my stores. I think it's £8 at my Homebase Clearance outlet.

I've just bought 4 bags of small bark chippings at B&Q.
I find it rots down very quickly (and that's on membrane) so I need to top it up every one or two years.

I want to try this product on my pots and especially on my pots in my greenhouse.

 

You can order online to collect instore.

Not available to order online

 

You might be able to ask in-store to get some in.
Just went there to buy some log roll and forgot to ask. Doh!

 

Haven’t had any problems with birds stealing it and I’ve had plenty in the garden this week stealing my grass seed but never thought of that so will keep watch.

 

Exactly what I was thinking @shiney

 

My Homebase Clearance Outlet at Longwell Green, Bristol has a stack of them at £7 each (30% off).

The bag is very light and You would instantly assume that you're not getting value for money.
The proof is in the eating of the pudding as they say.

I'm going to spread it around some pots and I'll get back to you on my thoughts.

Just a thought, I wonder if it deters slugs and snails?

 

I did consider this so have put some In my hosta pots and have not had any snail problems yet and we normally get a lot here.

 

Right firstly I just have to say is that I love this stuff.

And a little seems to go a long way.
With just a few handfuls I've topped so many pots.

It looks lovely when dry and even better when wet. Also it takes in water very easily which is going to help me endlessly when my wall pots start drying out and usually the water just runs off the top.

I would definitely wear gloves when using it as it has seemed to have stained my skin.

This would look lovely topping a light / variegated plant as the darkness of the material would really highlight the colour of the plant.

Using it is lovely. Mine was slightly damp in the bag and I put some in a bucket and fluffed it up just like @Matt-tropical suggested.

The only way I can describe using this is like using paper mache.

I can highly recommend this to all.

The only thing Westland should do is make 50 litre bags so then people would be able to try it out and see how good it is. I think the price of the 100 litre bag would put a lot of people off.