I'm plumping for peat-free
If Brexit wasn’t such an all-consuming story, the rumblings around peat-free compost would probably have got higher billing in the news headlines. The RHS announced that by the end of this year, they’re not selling any more peat-based products, and that we all need to work together to find an alternative.
As the peat industry is gradually decimating rare bog wildlife habitats, I’m happy to try to get on board! I think I’ll turn this into a bit of a fun experiment going forward and seek out some different peatfree brands to test their mettle.
Earlier this year I tried a bag of Dalefoot’s tomato compost (www.dalefootcomposts.co.uk) in my tomato pots. It’s made of bracken and sheep’s wool to retain moisture, is organic and interested me as, apart from being peat-free, it claims ‘no extra feed and less watering’ is needed. While it wasn’t a strictly scientific experiment,
I can honestly say I didn’t water my outdoor plants much and have just picked a great glut of fruit without giving my plants any tomato food whatsoever. Peat-free and maintenancefree, indeed! I’m going to give Petersfield peat-free compost a go as well – it's widely considered the best of the bunch.
Next up I’m trying Westland’s New Horizon peat-free multipurpose compost, launched this year and available in all garden centres. It’s supposed to outperform all peat-based brands, so I’ll let you know the outcome.
And there’s the rub, as they say; we all need a good compost that holds water well like peat does, which contains as rich a mix of organic material for good growing. Founder of Garden Organic, Lawrence Hills, wrote back in the 70s that “peat is an expensive substitute for leaf mould, and with enough time to decay, it could serve all the same purposes.”
So start collecting fallen leaves now, and in a couple of years they’ll have rotted down to produce a rich substance, much like multi-purpose. You can make your own (admittedly variable) peat-free blend, too, using three parts loamy garden soil, two parts garden compost and one part leaf mould – some gardeners also add grit, sand or Perlite for balanced air and drainage.
When a compost says ‘organic’ it doesn’t necessarily mean peat-free, and many composts are just peatreduced; try to pick one with the least peat content you can find.