How to use our live mulch
What’s the best time of year to mulch a London home garden or London allotment bed?
Our live mulch can be used any time of the year as the material is biologically active. It’ll keep breaking down and decomposing in place, feeding your soil biology with organic matter that will provide a food source for fungi, supporting the growth of mycorrhizal fungi, which helps improve soil structure, moisture retention, and nutrient availability. Mulching between autumn and early spring will help suppress weeds.
Is it too early to be putting mulch down in my London garden?
We are finding that it’s never too early or too late to apply our live mulch as we are mimicking a natural decomposition process turning nitrogen and carbon feedstock into compost, the material simply keeps breaking down as it becomes compost, fertilising your soil throughout all seasons. During winter the mulch can help protect roots from freezing and during summer wet spells it’ll increase moisture retention, helping in keeping plants alive.
Delivery
When do you deliver?
We are currently making compost & mulch same day or next day deliveries in London for orders from 50 L with weekend deliveries reserved for orders from 250 L. We also offer same day or next day deliveries for 250 litre orders.
How does the London free delivery works?
Yes it’s free London delivery over 10 litres of compost or 50 litres of mulch. We do not charge a delivery fee within 5 miles of our London Compost Factory, E11 4RE for orders over 10 L for compost and 50 L for mulch.
What’s the minimum order for free local London delivery within 5 miles?
Zero Waste London Compost 10 litres | Zero Waste Live Mulch 50 litres.
What’s the maximum you can deliver per trip?
We can deliver up to 1000 litres per trip and we offer two options:
250 L bagless. That’s a full cargo bike box and we can shovel the mulch straight into your garden or allotment bed.
Or we can deliver your live mulch in up to 12 x 80 L reusable hessian bags. Please return the bags to our rider upon delivery to keep up with our Zero Waste Ethos.
Will you help me take the hessian bags to my back garden?
Yes, we are happy to help you take the bags all the way through your London house and empty the mulch into a corner of your garden so we can bring the hessian bags back with us to keep reusing the bags multiple times.
I have a car, may I collect it from your shop?
If you live within 5 miles from our shop on E11 4RE, we’d rather deliver free of charge using electric bikes to save a car trip. If you drive an electric car, we can save your tire dust emissions including microplastics, heavy metals and 6PPD. If you’re out of our delivery area, please consider shopping locally if you plan to visit us, please send us an email to hello@humbleorigin.co.uk so we can prepare your order for ready collection.
Packaging
Does the 250L bike box delivery come in separate 50L bags or is it all as one?
The 250 litres bike box comes package free and is unloaded (shovelled) directly from the electric bike box to your garden or allotment bed.
Will you take the hessian bags back?
Absolutely. We can take the bags back straight away after delivery or you may drop them at our shop at your convenience, just make sure to keep the bags dry so they can be reused.
May I return the reusable bags?
If the bags are dry, we would welcome you to return them to our shop.
May I keep the hessian bags?
Yes. When keeping the bags, please consider composting it in the garden by simply cutting it into smaller pieces and covering it with our live mulch or compost. Avoiding creating unnecessary waste.
If I keep the hessian bags, may I throw them away in my black bin bag with my general rubbish?
Please do not dispose of our reusable, compostable hessian bags in your general black bin bag as the black bin bags will be incinerated after your bin is collected, completely negating its purpose.
Storage
How would you generally recommend storing the live mulch, if not using all at the same time. Could the mulch be stored outside?
Please store the mulch outside, ideally in a pile in contact with the soil or grass and exposed to rain water to keep the material hydrated and the biology active.
How long can I store the mulch in the hessian bags?
Hard to predict, air humidity and how wet the surface the bags will rest on will greatly speed up the jute fibres decomposition process, it could take anything from 24 hours to a few days for the live biology in the mulch to decompose the jute fibres that make the hessian bag. In short, the bottom of your bag will give in, making a mess.
Payment
How can I place my order?
Simply email us at hello@humbleorigin.co.uk
How can I pay for my order?
We take bank transfers, please send us an email to initiate your order.
Further Questions
My question wasn’t answered, may I contact you?
Absolutely, please drop us a line at hello@humbleorigin.co.uk