Best Supplier Of Compost 2023

A garden centre in Paddock Wood Kent.
I didn't buy any so dont have a clue if its any good.

 

I've been using this stuff it fantastic crumbly compost I've never had a bad bag, I use it for everything its a bit rich for seedling but I make do. Last year it were £4.75 per bag

 

I bought some of that last year@Perki, but it had a 100% peat sticker on it then.

 

Maybe, however when is come to central government, does the left hand know what the right hand is doing.

In December 2020 the UK Parliament passed "The UK Internal Market Act"
By law, the market access principles create the presumption that (in general) goods, services and professional qualifications that can be sold or recognised in one part of the UK should be able to be sold or recognised in any other part, regardless of what the law in that other part of the UK says.

As this ban was initially only going to apply to England, does that mean manufacturers and growers from Scotland & Ireland will still be legally allowed to sell compost and plants with peat to England?

In the online meeting with Defra they pointed out that the import of plants grown in peat from the EU would be banned, unless you applied for an exemption license. Nothing was mentioned about buying plants from within the UK, with exception of England.

One of the MAPs is the mutual recognition principle. Mutual recognition means that if goods can lawfully be sold in the UK nation in which they are produced, or first imported into from outside the UK, they can be sold in any UK nation.

All I know is, I will not be allowed to manufacture peat reduced composts and sell them within England, Wales Scotland & Ireland. However, does this act allow me to buy ready made compost from Ireland & Scotland and sell them on?

 

It's very rare I would use compost straight from the bag, most of the time it's not good enough for the types of plants I grow. Things are mixed according to what I'm planting, so perlite, sifted loam, sifted homemade compost and sharp sand or absorbent clay balls come into play. I will also use the stuff that I empty from pots..sieved and sterilised....for potting on shrubs.
I would use coir or a peat substitute, if the price was comparable to peat, but it's vastly inflated.
My concerns for the environment take second place to my bank account

 

Here is a government link to impact of a proposed peat ban.

Impact of a proposed ban of the sale of horticultural peat in England

A few pieces I Have copied and pasted.

Retailers in England might have an incentive to seek to rely on the Market Access Principles to obtain and sell peat-containing growing media.

Central to this analysis is a consideration of the role played by the Market Access Principles. These principles would, under certain circumstances, permit peat-containing growing media produced in Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland to be sold in England even after the ban has taken effect. The Market Access Principles would not allow peat-containing growing media produced in England to be sold in England, since the proposed ban on sale would apply.

 

I have used Jacks Magic MPC for several years now, and been very happy with it. Just looked up for its latest price, and the blurb on the bag says " Now with reduced peat". Reduced by how much and to what level it did not say.

 

I used to like Jacks Magic but after last year change of mix it awful stuff now compared to what it was .

 

I've got some Jacks Magic bought late last year.
It seems the same as always to me.

I think as I said earlier, you cant go by the name on the bag, it all varies wildly depending on where it comes from and what sweepings they have available at the time.

 

Just got back from there and yes 50L £7.00; Sylva Grow multi purpose £9.00.
The peat free has a coarser particle size than the multi purpose. Both have sufficient feed for the first 4 to 6 weeks.
This stock was probably the last of last years as the the owner confirmed future stock would be 40L rather than 50L. Expect price won't change.
Edit noticed when unloading that the peat free contains composted bark, coir and green waste.

 

Are you sure that the peat free contains green waste?

According to their site, Sylva Grow Multi-purpose contains no peat or green waste compost.

 

A commercial grower will tell us how much they want to reduce the peat content, where as the retail sector does not engage and price is always at the forefront.

We should of went down the same route as the Dutch. The government have a policy in place to reduce the amount of peat used in growing medium. There is no blanket ban on peat, not that I know about. Basically all sectors have to reduce the peat content to 10% by 2050, I don't know the exact details but it's something like. By 2030, the commercial sector must use 35% renewables and the amateur sector 50% must be renewables, every 5 years the peat content would decrease by a set amount. This is the route the UK should of went, rephrase, I mean England should of went, so everyone is on a level playing field, any manufacturer or grower would face a hefty fine if they breached the policy.

The UK uses roughly 4 million cube of growing medium annually, that includes peat and renewables. I think the Dutch use 8 million cube of growing medium annually, then people wonder why we are so reliant on imported food.

 

Its not just food though, the amount of ornamental plants we import from the Netherlands is staggering, and we have been doing it for years.
Why cant we grow our own stuff.
Are we lacking government subsidies that the Dutch are probably getting.

 

I know Glasgow council buy all their plants from the Netherlands, they had huge glasshouses in a couple of the parks to do that back in the day but it must be cheaper to buy them in for some reason