Smelly bark chips, can't get rid of the stench.

Pumpkinseeds

We bought a couple of bags of decorative bark chips in Lidl on Saturday. There was a stink from the plastic which we assumed would fade. It's atrocious and smells like pig slurry. We've thrown about 30 buckets of water on it but it's not making much of a difference. I've had a neighbour ranting at me tonight blaming our cats and saying it's cat poop, it isn't, they won't go near the bark they don't like the smell, won't even walk on it.

I just wondered if anyone has any suggestions for getting rid of the stench. I think it's some sort of chemical that's been added to kill woodlice. I noticed there aren't any in it but there were in bags we bought elsewhere during the Winter. I'm not putting 120 litres of bark in my bin and we don't have any other way of disposing of it.

iainBB

That is powerful stuff, we bought it a few years ago and the car was smelling for weeks, Put the entire lot of it in the bin as I tried everything to get rid of it, whatever it is it is not natural and I don’t what those chemicals in my garden.

Instead we bought a good shredded / chipper and make our own now. That will teach me to cut corners.

redser7

Cut your losses and dump it in the bin.

NIMAN

Mine were quite smelly for the 1st week or so, but grand now.

Think rain must have washed them?

Odelay

It is not a chemical, it is is a smell from the bark and is stronger in the summer heat, it will go away soon enough. Let it dry out, try turning it so the layer underneath is also able to dry.