An online garden centre is selling rose-scented horse manure to avoid offending gardeners’ neighbours – at an eye-watering £199 per bag.
GardeningExpress.co.uk is expecting a “rush of orders” from city gardeners for its compost, which is infused with a “secret organic formula mix” of rose petals, lavender and rosemary, used similarly to the way ingredients are used in perfume manufacture.
A spokesman said it will allow gardeners to “give their flower beds a boost without offending their neighbours’ noses”.
And although the price, £199 for 60 litres, is some 20 times as expensive as normal manure, the company believes city gardeners will be “willing to pay a premium to keep the neighbours happy”.
GardeningExpress.co.uk founder Chris Bonnett said that although “goold old-fashioned manure” is the best thing to boost plant growth, “not to put too fine a point upon it, the stuff stinks”.
He added: “That’s why manure compost has never really taken off with urban gardeners. It’s a shame because it would do wonders for flowerbeds. But if you live in a town or city you have to consider the neighbours and no one wants to be responsible for making their entire road stink.
“So we thought we would find a solution to this problem. It’s taken a lot of experimentation with different flowers and herbs but we believe we have developed the ultimate pleasant-smelling manure using rosemary, lavender and rose petals.
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“After investing a lot of time and effort to perfect our formula we are confident we can offer gardeners a pleasant-smelling 100% organic manure which they can spread on their gardens without fear of offending their neighbours.”
Mr Bonnett said the company understands the difference in price to normal manure, adding: “But we firmly believe many gardeners will think it’s worth paying the extra to make their garden smell good as well as look good. After all, what price can you put on neighbourly relations?”
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