Many gardeners are still swayed, by advertising and easy availability, to buy commercial peat-based potting and seed composts. There is no need to do this. You can buy good commercial peat free composts such as Sylvagrow and Dalefoot, or, even better, you can make your own potting mix very easily.
Whilst some of us can use loam from mole hills, you don’t have to go out searching the fields – simply mix one third soil or your own compost, one third leaf mould (available free from BCCS) and one third horticultural grit or sand, and hey presto you’ve done it. Garden Organic has an easy to follow guide for different types of potting compost – see https://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/sites/www.gardenorganic.org.uk/files/resources/fflp/A38-Making-potting-mixes.pdf
Why don’t we BAN PEAT NOW? The government delayed a ban with their 2010 “guidance” then when that did not work extended the use of peat for amateur gardeners until 2024. That is another three years of extraction, loss of biodiversity and the release of climate change pollutants – its bonkers.
Yes, and commercial growers have even longer to carry on using peat based composts. At least they should also have to stop using peat based composts by 2024 – that gives 3 years for all peat bagging compost manufacturers to adapt their products to peat free. Without a realistically tight deadline, they just won’t do it.
Hi BCCS,
The Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust is fully behind the mission to ban peat composts from UK shelves. The government’s plan to phase out peat compost by 2030 for commercial growers, though heading in the right direction, is only being implemented on a voluntary basis. It is estimated that UK peatlands store up to 3.2 billion tonnes of carbon, which is more than the country’s forests. A complete ban and promotion of peat-free composts is needed not only to help tackle climate change and prevent flooding, but also to protect the diverse array of plants and wildlife found within the peatlands.
You might be interested in this list of nurseries that grow their plants peat free. It’s a nationwide list but some are local or online.
https://dogwooddays.net/2020/04/30/updated-peat-free-nurseries-list/