It’s that time of year again when gardeners head to the garden centre to get some compost. Unfortunately you will still find peat based composts for sale despite the promises of previous governments to halt the retail sale of peat by 2024. The legislation to enact this ban looks to be stalled.
Peat accumulates at the rate of about 1mm per year, so when
you see pictures like this you know current approaches to peat use are
completely unsustainable. It isn’t naturally fertile, it’s a growing medium
made fertile by the addition of fertilisers.
Peat is a better store of carbon than trees as once trapped in a water logged bog the carbon can stay trapped almost indefinitely, until we come along! Not only does peat store carbon, it acts as a sponge absorbing water and slowly releasing it, so helping to prevent flash flooding as our climate changes with the resultant torrential downpours. It also helps to purify water, with much of our drinking water coming from upland areas.
Not only is peat being exploited for gardening, it’s still being used as a home heating fuel!
It can also be burnt on moors when heather is being burnt to create ideal grouse feeding conditions for the shooting industry when a controlled burn also damages the underlying peat.
The government is currently conducting a consultation
on amendments to The Heather and Grass etc. Burning (England) Regulations 2021.
Heather and grassland burning is currently carried out under licence but from an
environmental perspective on many levels it’s hard to see why it should be
allowed at all. Please respond to the
consultation.
Meanwhile, what can you do?
- Write to your MP asking for the stalled peat ban legislation to be progressed and for the cutting and burning of peat for home heating to be banned.
- Buy peat free compost! For guides to peat free compost see RSS | RSS and Peat-free compost choices / RHS Gardening and The best peat-free compost for eco-friendly gardening
- See tips for using peat free compost at Peat-free compost: what is peat and how to use it - Which?
- Make your own compost using this guidance. Surely the best answer!
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