On 18 July, 16:43, "Wallace" wrote:
"john hamilton" wrote in message

...

When the local council have pulled out all the 'finished' plants they have
put out in flower beds, they throw them on a big unsightly heap in a
remote corner of the cemetery.

After a while it ends up being a very sandy type of compost. It doesnt
look like there is much loam in it.

Would this be good to throw into garden pots mixed with some additional
soil? I guess the dead plants would just rot down and add some nutrition
to the mix?

It also has a lot of small bits of chopped tree bark in it. Would this
tree bark help with moisture retention, or would it be a waste of time
from that point of view? *Would I be better picking out the tree bark and
throwing it away? * *Thanks.

I would think that stuff would be ok. Why not experiment? *Plant some with
it and some with an alternative, and see what results?

One thing you might find is the plants growing short, most of the pot
Mums will have been treated with a growth retardant chemical which can
stay in the soil for quite a time