Hypertufa ingredients - what is peat moss?!!

Hiya folks.

I'd like to have a go at making some Hypertufa pots. I've done a bit of research online on what i need, and the only thing that has stumped me is "Peat moss".

In my attempt to do a bit more research i've discovered that Sphagnum moss is sometimes called Peat moss. Also Wikipedia states "A distinction is made between sphagnum moss, the live moss growing on top of a peat bog on one hand, and sphagnum peat moss (North American usage) or sphagnum peat (British usage) on the other, the latter being the decaying matter underneath"

Now i'm really confused! A couple of videos that i've seen show people using what looks to me to be plain peat. But i was under the impression that the use of peat generally in gardening is frowned apon, so can't imagine being able to walk into my local garden centre and pick up a big bag of it!

Any ideas?

Many thanks

Jamie

 

I have made a lot of hyper tufa things over the last few years and not actually used peat. If you can get hold of composted bark (Cambark used to be the stuff) that is ok. However, the last few times I used sifted Non-peat compost. Sifting gets rid of any lumps and breaks the material up into fibres which is what you need to help hold the concrete mix together. You can also use coir compost but not tried that myself. In America they often add fibre glass strands to make it even stronger (broken up bits if roof insulation would do, but wear gloves and watch your eyes when breaking it down into fibres!).
Having said all that if peat is what you want then the dried, compressed, baled stuff from Ireland works just fine.