The latest edition of Which? Gardening magazine has compared various brands of compost for effectiveness and value for money. Their horticultural experts planted hundreds of flowers and vegetables in 21 different brands of compost – and guess what? Peat-free came top of the pots yet again.New Horizon Peat Free compost wins for the second consecutive year. This goes to show that peat-free can produce the kind of results gardeners demand. Kew Gardens already know this because they don’t use peat. Ditto, the National Trust, Monty Don, Charlie Dimmock and a host of others. Geoff Hamilton, the unofficial patron saint or all amateur garden potterers, was a great champion of peat-free gardening.Case closed, you’d think. But to quote from an RSPB report which went to ministers earlier this week,“The voluntary approach to resolving the problem has failed. Indeed, in recent years the transition towards alternatives has virtually stalled and peat use in the UK fell only 1.63% (around 50,000 m3) between 2007 and 2009. At this rate of decline, the horticulture industry will not be peat free for another 120 years.”So if there are decent alternatives available that don’t cost any more (10p a litre for New Horizon is about average for compost these days), why the snail’s pace progress in moving from the environmentally destructive, unsustainable, greenhouse gas emitting peat based brands to the harmless peat free alternatives?Well, let’s look a little closer. The brand which fared worst in the Which? Gardening survey was also peat-free (Miracle-Gro Organic Choice, you have been named and shamed) and several other peat-free brands produced poor results.And after a quick perusal of a few popular gardening forums it seems that although most decent gardeners know there is good peat-free stuff out there, they can’t buy it down their local garden centre.The Which? article comments: “It’s odd that some manufacturers seem to be further encouraging the use of peat. We have noticed three of the big compost producers are bringing out new peat-based products this year. The launch of these products comes at a time when the peat-free market has never looked so rosy. Sales of New Horizon (a Best Buy compost for containers in this year’s trial), shot up by 35 per cent between August 2009 and July 2010.”On this evidence neither peat producers nor retailers seem to be fully behind the push to phase out peat. The retailers aren’t producing enough high standard peat-free products whilst at the same time bringing out new peat based products, and the garden centres aren’t stocking bags of the proven decent stuff.Why? I’m sure they will cite ‘market forces’ and ‘commercial reasons’, but then they are businesses and can hardly be blamed for trying to make money. So why doesn’t the Government, which can’t hide behind such excuses, subtly change those market forces by introducing a levy on peat-based products, as we suggested in our report this week?If peat-free is cheaper, people will buy more of it and the industry will invest in production and distribution. It’s a no brainer really. The budget is on March 23, watch this space...
I like my garden and for my seed trays I use a herbaceous mulch which I riddle under the trees. This takes time for decomposition and one of the problems with modern gardening is that too many people want instant results. Many home made composts can be made but again councils give green bins to take away the garden rubbish to make it themselves and then charge you for it back again using a massive amount of diesel and man power to do so. I know many people who feel that pressure should be put on councils to grow the right plants and that 'town in bloom' competitions should only be based on beneficial plants for insects grown of course 'peat free'. May be the RSPB should be putting pressure on councils to change the way they operate and grow plants then, in time, their residents will change as well.
Mark I forgot to say that i would like to see the RSPB peat report that has been presented to parliament
Mark I am at a disadvantage here because i haven't seen the which report, but from reports on the internet possibly for a different year I read that New Horizon was the ONLY peat free compost that was worth buying. Also that it was not suitable for seed germination.
The anti peat use campaign is fuelled by lies and distortion of the facts. Even the RSPB press release contains untruths such as "in the UK 94% of peatland habitat has been lost". This is rubbish as anyone that has been to Scotland will know that nearly all of the country is covered in peat blanket bog. The statement presumably should have read that 94% of LOWLAND RAISED MIRE has been lost or DAMAGED.
The RSPB press release also states that 58% of products now sold are peat alternatives. This is not true, possibly 58% less peat is being sold but peat free composts only form 4% of the total sales.
On our retail plant nursery we have tried selling three different kinds of peat free composts basically unsuccessfully because they were useless!!
All peat free growing media have to be watered and fed much more frequently . The cells in the sphagnum are excellent long term reservoirs for both water and dissolved nutrients.
A DEFRA representative has stated that alternatives to peat have similar greenhouse gas ommissions associated with their production compared to peat.
Peat is a renewable resource similar to timber and where growth conditions are optimal such as in sweden it can be harvested on a sustainable basis.
Because the sphagnum on a harvested peat bog re-establishes quickly when harvesting ceases the bog will quickly revert back to a carbon sink .
There is a UK peat producers code of practice which states that peat on SSSIs may not be harvested and requires that the peat bog be restored near the end of use.
Mark i would like to hear your comments after reading the GlenDoick website on peat usage
www.glendoick.com/index.php
Mark you are only stating one side of the argument.
For a balanced viewpoint of the peat debate the following is from the GlenDoick website which gives a good pverview of peat concerns
"Are peat free composts any good?
The dilemma for the gardener is that peat based composts are significantly better than peat free composts for sowing seeds and potting on young plants. Time after time trials reveal this to be true.
Which reported that composts with at least 50% peat were far better than peat free composts in 2010. Which compost trials
Beechgrove Garden trials in 2010 growing potatoes in containers found poor results with peat free composts compared to composts containing at least 50% peat. (Search the factsheets on their website for the results) Beechgrove Garden
The RHS trials published in January 2011 showed the poor results germinating seedlings and potting on young plants most peat alternatives, including loam, wood fibre and coir particularly for plants with very small seeds.
Peat free composts tend to be inconsistent, unstable and often require the addition of extra food and trace elements and many gardeners have complained to me of the poor results with peat free composts. Coir, often used as a replacement for peat is shipped from Sri Lanka which cannot be good for the environment"
The rest of the website suggests how peat can be used sustainably and gives a good general overview of peat.
It is very hard and takes a long time, to change the average person's conventional thinking, (certainly in this country), and this issue of the continued use of natural peat in lage amounts is a good example of that. As you say Mark it is a no brainer, but that change in conventional thinking needs a good helping hand through a levy on natural peat sales. Let's hope the "Greenist Government Ever" can respond and provide that helping hand.