New Delivery Charges from 1st February 2023

After a period of quite severe inflationary pressure where we have absorbed supplier price increases as far as possible, to ensure we can maintain our service levels we have made the decision to introduce a charging mechanism that more accurately reflects the actual costs incurred in making a lorry delivery to our customers.
As many of you will be aware, these are the first changes to our delivery charges since Madingley Mulch began trading in 1999!
The following changes will be made from 1st February: Our minimum order value eligible for delivery will increase from £40 to £50 Delivery charges will now be applied to all orders to reflect the combined cost of distance travelled and space taken up on the lorry.
Please see our delivery page for more information about the new charges.

Five Top Gardening Trends for 2020

Spent mushroom compost Herts – outdoor gardening supplies

It’s that time of the year again when gardeners all across the country are planning for the year ahead. But what plants and features should you be looking to include as we enter a new decade?

Madingley Mulch have put together some of the key features that experts are forecasting to be popular with gardeners in 2020 – the emphasis this year very much being on eco-friendly solutions.

Popular Pollinators

We are all aware of the importance of the bee and other pollinating insects. So this year horticulturalists believe that plants that encourage insects to pollinate such as lavender and rhododendrons will be popular. In addition, marigolds and sunflowers which support ladybirds and lacewings, and deter aphids, will also help gardeners protect their prized plants.

Because insects thrive under log piles, in ponds, and in other similarly ‘wild’ environments, this year will see many gardens become a lot less neat, and more a reflection of natural habitats.

Growing Your Own

With global warning an ever increasing problem at home and abroad – last winter saw record temperatures of over 20C and heavy snow in the UK alone – 2020 will see us all try to cut our carbon footprints. One great way of doing this is to grow your own food.

As a consequence of modern tastes will see more chillies chickpeas and lentils grown in vegetable patches this year, alongside more traditional choices such as beans and peas. This drive to produce more of our own food will see more salad vegetables and herbs in our gardens too.

Natural Soil

With the numbers of native insects and some wildlife in decline, fertilisers will become less popular in 2020. As gardeners seek more natural ways of protecting their plants and support their growth, composts and soil conditioners are forecast to become more popular.

Spent mushroom compost – which Madingley Mulch supplies to gardeners in Herts, Cambrigeshire, Suffolk and Essex – is an organic way to improve the heavy clay soil that is typical in East Anglia. You can also suppress weeds organically by using products such as Denise’s Delight and Tony’s Tonic, both of which are exclusively available from Madingley Mulch.

Think Big Indoors

According to the Royal Horticultural Society there will be other trends not driven by the environment. With houseplants set to move off from narrow windowsills and into more central and showpiece locations in our homes.

Moving away from the windowsill will allow indoor gardeners to grow bigger, with supersized varieties of plants such as alocasia and monstera possible choices.

Making Maximum Use of Space

With this year’s drive to help the environment and cut our effects on it, it is more important than ever to make the most of the space in our gardens – even smaller plots. And one untapped area is our fences.  That is why this year will likely see an emphasis on growing vertically, either using terracotta planters attached to fencing panels or trailing plants growing up them.

More and more people are using their gardens as extension of their homes too, with extended patio and courtyard areas, and 2020 is likely to see an increasing trend for outdoor ovens and ranges to replace barbecues.

Outdoor Gardening Supplies from Madingley Mulch

 As well as soil conditioners and other natural and organic solutions such as spent mushroom compost. Madingley Mulch also offers a range of other outdoor garden supplies including garden patio slabs and fence panels to customers in Cambridge, and across East Anglia.

If you place a large or bulky order we will deliver free of charge within 15 miles of our base on the outskirts of Cambridge, and a delivery charge of £20 applies within a 24.5 mile radius, which includes places such as Ely, Huntingdon, Newmarket, Saffron Walden and Royston. We can also deliver further afield if you require.

If you want some assistance in making your garden more environmentally friendly and maximising what you can grow, contact us.


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