See this website for many alpine compost mixes!

[newstart]

The site address is at the bottom of this topic.

They sell a substance called Humost which is described as below:

Our Range Of Soil Conditioners-

Humost

Humost is an organic, environmentally friendly soil conditioner which will replenish the humus content in soil.  It is made from recycled green material and has an agreeable "peaty" aroma.  Humost has a neutral pH, dark appearance, high humic acid content and a pleasant texture.  As a peat-substitute this product really is a highly important addition to our range and makes a very effective mulch.

Is this above mix very similar to leaf mould? What are the differences between this and leaf mould and are they both usefull for an alpine potting mix? I read that good leaf mould is amazing stuff in a potting mix because of nutrients(obviously similar properties to peat may be).
   
   Any way I shall leave it to your answers to put me right-thanks again!

The site seemed absolutely fascinating, it is at:

http://www.sportingsurfacesupplies.com/soil_conditioners.htm

[mark smyth]

Green waste is what councils collect in brown bins and in green waste areas of amenity sites. It is then sent away to be shredded and composted. I dont know where our local one goes to but I have seen the result. From what I have seen ours is only good enough for mulching or digging in to the soil to add humous. There are too many big bits in it for for making a potting mix. I would guess there are too many weed seeds in it. Your supplier may be selling sieved green waste.

[David Shaw]

All councils are having to be seen to be green and composting green waste. My opinion is that this green waste compost is inferior to garden compost ( I put all my garden rubbish to the council) but that we are now building up a mountain of it. It seems to be a staple of soil conditioners along with composted bark. I used to use composted bark for potting composts after I ran out of leaf mould but as I can no longer get just the bark have to make do with the mixture.
You can remove the big stuff from this soil conditioner, Newstart, and use it as a peat alternative in potting composts if it is the best you can get.