Is coronavirus threatening the industry?
compost products. Since the debacle of the millennium years, significant investment in the sustainable sourcing and development of alternatives has seen a range of new products introduced this year, with suppliers striving to keep prices broadly in line with peat-based products.
Significant investment
The RSS system should enable manufacturers to blend suitable products together, tailoring them for a variety of purposes, while monitoring their environmental impact and ultimately enabling gardeners to make an informed choice (see box left).
“From spring 2021 keep a look out for those which are responsibly produced. It’s not just about being peat free,” said Steve, who also plans feedback sessions via consumer panels composed of RHS members and the public.
Garden centre chains and other retail outlets, such as the RHS, have stopped selling bagged peat, while increasing the range of peat-free products, and garden retailer Suttons has announced it has gone peat free. The Government is set to publish The England Peat Strategy in late spring to early summer, which will see peat use phased out in horticulture by 2030, while in late April the Horticultural Trades Association plans to publish the results of a project with Coventry University looking at the socioeconomic impact of materials used in composts and the barriers standing in the way of change.
A campaign #PeatFreeApril, organised by a group of gardeners, garden writers and supported by the Soil Association, the IUCN UK Peatlands Programme and horticultural charity Garden Organic, wants to encourage gardeners to make the switch to peat free and ask questions about compost labelling. What do you think of the new peat-free composts? Have you found them better than, as good as or not as good as peat? Let us know at the email address you'll find on page 57.
For more information about the GMA visit www. growingmedia.co.uk.