Kitchen Garden Forum

Hi

I live on the Powys/Shropshire border (near Welshpool), what we don't have here is a shortage of trees (or sheep but that's another matter).

Given that, can anyone tell me why decorative bark is so damned expensive here? For example, i went to a local builders yard and was cheerfully informed that a dumpy bag of this stuff would cost me £51 + VAT; I then went to a 'country store' where it would cost me £49 +VAT!!

What is going on here, you cant use this stuff for anything else (apart from biomass boilers) so why the expense or is this just another example of rip-off Britain?

Bill

We are lucky we get ours delivered free by our council

Probably worth checking with your Parish or District Council if they have responsibility,for tree felling or ringing around a few local tree surgeons who have these bark stripping machines and have surplus stuff they might want to get rid of as the council may be charging them a commercial disposal fee now the EU have bought it more rigorous recycling regulations.

We have it delivered to for free, several tree surgeons have permission from the council to dump it at any of our allotment sites. They are only too pleased to get rid of it as otherwise they would have to pay to dispose of it. It may be more than just bark but worth making enquiries.

Beryl.

Perhaps the expense is incurred by the sterilisation process. The free chipped bark could contain Honey fungus, Phytophthora and all sorts of nasties that you wouldn't want to introduce into your gardens. If you can speak to the tree surgeons and establish what they've used that would probably be o.k.

Trying different sources and so far I am up to £145 per tonne. I am close to giving up and just sticking with the mud (which I could theoretically hurl at 'celebrity' gardeners who go on and on about using bark and thus force up the prices).

At that price you could almost afford concrete!

Try asking for wood chip Bill. Maybe it's just the bark which is expensive which would have to be stripped off first which makes it expensive. I would think it would have to go through a saw mill for that Or some such procedure. Not the kind of thing most local tree surgeons have. Is it for an allotment or garden? I don't know of any allotment that has to pay for wood chip.

Beryl.

Update:

Powys CC do not supply wood chip - they may have in the past but there are too many complications with Health & Safety now.

Gentle reminder: we used to rule 75% of the known world. You don't need air strikes to bring down a dictator, just send in Health & Safety.

I used to get rather nice hardwood woodchip from a local tree surgeon. That is no longer available; it can be sold for fuel (in this case, coal power station co-firing).

What is still plentiful is shredded conifer. Doesn't look great until it fades to brown, but supresses weeds better, has fewer ash seeds in it, and can be scraped up after a few years rotting to make a base for potting compost.