Progress on peat

Anyone who knows me will know I spend a good chunk of my time either pottering in our garden or browsing local garden centres.

It has been really pleasing on recent visits, to both independently owned and chain-run garden centres in and around the Borough, to see that progress is finally being made when it comes to eliminating the use of peat in compost.

Those we feel have really been seeking to address the issue over time include Henry

Street Garden Centre (Arborfield), Laurels

Plant Centre (Spencers Wood), Dobbies (Shinfield), British Garden Centres

(Winnersh) and Squires Garden Centres (Wokingham).

You can also buy garden compost made from green waste at the re3 waste and recycling centres (“the tip”) in Reading and Bracknell.

It has been a long-running saga and for decades successive governments had floundered on the subject.

In 2010, the then coalition Government introduced a target to end the sale of peat to amateur gardeners by 2020. Last year, with this target having been missed, the Government unveiled plans to shift that date to 2024, and to ban the use of peat among professionals in the horticulture sector as well.

So, what is the problem with using peat, I hear you ask?

Earth is home to 10 billion acres of peatlands (including bogs and fens) and they are the world’s largest carbon store on land, drawing down more carbon than all of the planet’s forests combined. Peatlands also provide unique and intensively biodiverse habitats for wildlife, insects and plant life.

According to the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), it takes a century for just 10cm of peat to form, from partially decomposed plants, while up to 22 metres of peat can be extracted for use during that same timeframe.

The UK is home to over five million acres of peatlands, placing it among the top ten countries globally by area. These wetlands hold a similar amount of carbon to that collectively found in the forests of the UK, France and Germany.

BBC Gardeners’ World host Monty Don has long campaigned on the issue, accusing producers and retailers of “actively choosing to do harm” and “sticking their heads in the sand”.

WWF UK, The Wildlife Trusts, The Woodland Trust, The RSPB and Plantlife are among the charities who have also lobbied hard.

Our simple view is that the use of peat is wholeheartedly unnecessary and avoidable and that there are suitable, scalable alternatives. These are generally made from materials such as animal, food or green waste, bark, wood fibre, coir, bracken or sheep’s wool.

At home, we aim to produce our own compost through half a dozen compost bins. But it can be a challenge to generate enough so we sometimes have to rely on the growing number of organic and peat-free brands out there.

If you don’t have a home compost bin, consider adding one to your garden. They are available at a subsidised price via Wokingham Borough Council’s website (as are water butts and other additions).

You can also bag up just your autumn leaves or place them in an old dustbin and come the following year you should have fantastic leafmould compost.

Next time you’re at the garden centre, please do keep this in mind and, if you can, why not get making your own compost?

It’s great fun and free.