Boycott peat!

Sounds like one of the GW suggestions isn't very useful! Plus, isn't that stuff quite expensive?

Well, I have a very small garden (around 150 square meters, and that's including the patio!), heavy clay alkaline soil and don't really care for acid-loving plants, so I know it's quite easy for me to go (largely) peat-free. I think I'll try the turves alternative suggested by GW and just buy some horticultural manure to amend my soil, that should suffice in terms of making it loamier.

I definitely think that's excusable Shiney, that's quite a cost and I wouldn't want to see it coming out of your commendable and generous charity donations, either!

Re the petition I doubt it will reach enough signatures to be considered for a parliamentary debate, but I think it will reach enough for a government response. Considering all that has been said on this thread so far, probably the most desirable result!

Nick

 

Yes, I was horrified to discover that! I do think that when it comes to us gardeners it should be more about minimising use and not necessarily eliminating it, as Shiney does. Yes, it is a rather small fraction, roughly about 5% in Ireland from what I've read (not sure about the total that goes to UK gardeners as a whole), but this article is from 2008 so they may well have reduced the amount used for horticulture/gardening since then.

Peat products: The manufacturer's view

Nick

 

I use Coir 10 x parts to 5 x parts own Compost with no feed for seeds. For potting on I put some feed in the above mix. Works fine for me.

 

Pet is something that is used here, so I decided to find out a few facts. The thing that I discovered is that there are quite a few inaccuracies in the video.

As an example. One company here "farms" at present around 47 000 hectares of peat, plus another 600 hectares for others. Next year, they will be farming roughly 48 000 hectares of their own ground. The reason? Peat grows (not something we read about!) and next year their acreage will be roughly 1 000 hectares more. The year after that, a similar size increase will happen. Therefore, on condition that it is managed correctly, peat is a renewable resource.

I'm willing to bet that the person that made the video cannot even name the 4 main uses of peat….

 

As I understand it peat does grow, and is formed by the bases of party decomposed sphagnum moss, but at a very slow rate.
The stuff we are digging out has been thousands of years forming.

 

Here lies the problem, people bang on about how destructive peat is, but lets look at the peat replacements, coco fibre or coir, both made from coconut, these grow in and around the Indian ocean, and other tropical regions, this stuff is washed in local water, to remove salts (i dont know if you have been to places in India, but the water aint clean), its then dried (to reduce the weight), fumagated to remove nasties, then flown half way around the world, not really enviromentally friendly.
Good news though, some compost companies are starting to insist, the ingredients in their compost must reach 3 criteria, it must be useful, sustainable and ethical, which means the use of coco fibre and coir is on the way out.
Some companies in the next few years will be adding the by product of Bio fuel. Maize is grown and harvested, the kernels are squashed, fermented, then squeezed. When this pulp dries it becomes fibreous, full of nutrients, and able to hold a fair bit of moisture, on its own this fibreous material is too rich in nutrients to plant straight in, so it will have to be mixed with other ingredients.
Currently this by product, some is turned back into fields, some is used to make multi fuel burner briquets, but there is still thousands and thousands of tonnes left. You will see this change happening over the next couple of years.

 

Dalefoot compost is completely peat free - it’s wool and bracken. It’s expensive but it’s well worth the price.

 

As @NigelJ stated, Melcourt do composts based on composted bark. The National Botanic Garden of Wales (which is now closed and so I can't volunteer there any more ) use it to avoid peat. I found the compost a bit more free draining than my usual peaty stuff - so it is better for people like me who overwater. Unfortunately it doesn't appear to be available in amateur quantities. So I'm afraid I get the cheapest stuff available, and add tons of grit.