The Melcourt Amenity Guide - Product Specification & Performance Guide (Mulches)

Melcourt Product Specification & Performance Guide

Mulches (Bark based)

	Melcourt Graded Bark Flakes^TM	Melcourt Bark Nuggets^®	Melcourt Ornamental Bark Mulch^TM	Melcourt Redwood Bark Chips^TM	Melcourt Pine Mini Mulch^TM	Melcourt Amenity Bark Mulch^TM	Melcourt Spruce Ornamental^TM	Melcourt Contract Bark Mulch^TM
1. Main constituent	Pine Bark	Pine, Douglas Fir and Larch Bark	Pine Bark	Pine, Douglas Fir and Larch Bark	Pine Bark	Conifer Bark	Conifer Bark	Conifer Bark
2. Origin	European	European	European	British	European	British	British	British
3. Nominal particle size range	15 - 125 mm	15 - 65 mm	5 - 35 mm	5 - 35 mm	3 - 18 mm	5 - 75 mm	5 - 35 mm	1 - 65 mm
4. Wood content	< 5 %	< 5 %	< 5 %	< 7.5 %	< 5 %	< 15 %	< 15 %	< 25 %
5. Dust & fines	Minimal	Minimal	Minimal	Minimal	Minimal	< 5 %	< 5 %	< 10 %
6. pH	4.5 - 5.5	4.5 - 5.5	4.5 - 5.5	4.5 - 5.5	4.5 - 5.5	4.5 - 5.5	4.5 - 5.5	4.5 - 5.5
7. Typical Bulk Density Range	200 - 250 kg/m³	200 - 250 kg/m³	200 - 250 kg/m³	200 - 250 kg/m³	250 - 320 kg/m³	280 - 320 kg/m³	280 - 350 kg/m³	300 - 380 kg/m³
8. Quality range	Deluxe	Deluxe	Deluxe	Contract	Deluxe	Contract	Contract	Economy
9. Minimum effective depth	50 mm	50 mm	50 mm	50 mm	50 mm	75 mm	75 mm	75 mm
10. Settlement factor	5 %	5 %	5 - 10 %	5 - 10 %	5 - 10 %	10 - 15 %	10 - 15 %	10 - 20 %
11. Durability	4 years +	4 years +	2 years +	2 years +	2 years +	2 years +	2 years +	1 year +
12. DETR specification compliance	nr	nr	nr	nr	nr	nr	nr	nr
13. BS 4790:1987 Fire tested	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
14. FSC Certified	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
15. Porosity to rain	*****	*****	****	****	****	*****	****	**
16. Porosity to air	*****	*****	****	****	****	*****	***	**
17. Resistance to rain erosion	*****	*****	***	***	***	*****	***	***
18. Resistance to wind erosion	*****	****	***	***	***	****	***	**
19. Resistance to fire	*****	*****	*****	*****	*****	*****	*****	*****
20. Stability on slopes	Up to 40°	Up to 35°	Up to 25°	Up to 25°	Up to 25°	Up to 25°	Up to 25°	Up to 15°
21. Insulation properties	****	****	***	***	***	****	***	***
22. Consistency of product	*****	*****	*****	*****	*****	****	****	**
23. Cost guide per year - materials	£ 0.39 m²	£ 0.29 m²	£ 0.71 m²	£ 0.77 m²	£ 0.73 m²	£ 0.58 m²	£ 0.64 m²	£ 1.04 m²

Mulches (Wood based)

	Melcourt Rustic Biomulch^®	Melcourt Decorative Biomulch^®	Melcourt Forest Biomulch^®
1. Main constituent	Forest Biomass	Forest Biomass	Forest Biomass
2. Origin	British	British	British
3. Nominal particle size range	15 - 100 mm	5 - 25 mm	1 - 45 mm
4. Wood content	> 80 %	> 65 %	> 70 %
5. Dust & fines	Minimal	< 5 %	< 7.5 %
6. pH	4.5 - 5.5	4.5 - 5.5	4.5 - 5.5
7. Typical Bulk Density Range	220 - 270 kg/m³	230 - 280 kg/m³	250 - 300 kg/m³
8. Quality range	Contract	Contract	Economy
9. Minimum effective depth	50 mm	50 mm	50 mm
10. Settlement factor	5 %	5 - 10 %	10 - 20 %
11. Durability	4 years +	3 years +	3 years +
12. DETR specification compliance	nr	nr	nr
13. BS 4790:1987 Fire tested	No	No	No
14. FSC Certified	No	No	No
15. Porosity to rain	*****	****	****
16. Porosity to air	*****	*****	****
17. Resistance to rain erosion	*****	*****	****
18. Resistance to wind erosion	*****	***	****
19. Resistance to fire	****	****	****
20. Stability on slopes	Up to 40°	Up to 30°	Up to 35°
21. Insulation properties	***	****	****
22. Consistency of product	****	*****	****
23. Cost guide per year - materials	£ 0.26 m²	£ 0.28 m²	£ 0.23 m²

Mulches (Composted Plant Residue)

	Melcourt Mulch 2000^TM
1. Main constituent	Composted Plant Residue
2. Origin	British
3. Nominal particle size range	1 - 45 mm
4. Wood content	High
5. Dust & fines	Low
6. pH	7.5 - 8.5
7. Typical Bulk Density Range	250 - 300 kg/m³
8. Quality range	Economy
9. Minimum effective depth	50 mm
10. Settlement factor	10 - 15 %
11. Durability	1 year +
12. DETR specification compliance	Yes
13. BS 4790:1987 Fire tested	No
14. FSC Certified	No
15. Porosity to rain	***
16. Porosity to air	****
17. Resistance to rain erosion	***
18. Resistance to wind erosion	***
19. Resistance to fire	**
20. Stability on slopes	Up to 50°
21. Insulation properties	***
22. Consistency of product	****
23. Cost guide per year - materials	£ 0.60 m²

Notes

Lines 3,4 and 5

The sizes and percentages are nominal. By the nature of these products, it is not practically possible to be exact and there might be a small variation.

Line 6

pH is measured using the methods specified in BS 4156:1990.

Line 9

This is the minimum effective spreading depth after settlement for the product to function adequately. For improved effect, the depth could be increased.

Line 10

This is the minimum reduction in product depth 30 days after laying.

Line 11

These figures are taken from our practical experience. The life expectancy of all mulches depends on the grade, the original spreading depth prior soil preparation, and subsequent topping-up and maintenance.

Line 12

This product complies to the specification as set out by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, published November 1997.
This specification is only applicable to products made from Composted Plant Residue.

Line 13

These products have been independently tested by WIRA Testing Centre for fire resistance, according to BS 4790:1987

Line 14

These products are pest, disease and weed free, and have not been treated with methyl-bromide or any additive, pesticides, colorants or dyes.

Lines 15-22

Key
*****	Very good
****	Good
***	Moderate
**	Poor
*	Very poor

Line 23

The guidance costs have been calculated assuming a full articulated trailer load of material was delivered to site, within half a days driving distance from one of our processing depots.Due allowance has been made for the minimum settlement factors as stated in line 9.

The costs per m² have been calculated using the following formula :-

Product cost delivered to site per m³ ÷ [ ( minimum spreading depth + minimum settlement depth ) ÷ mulch life in years ]

All values given in the Product Specification are typical. However, some variation may occur from time to time. Melcourt Industries Ltd reserves the right to alter the specification without notice, for the purpose of product improvement.