So why do gardeners
still buy peat-based products? Peat is an extremely versatile material since it
first became fully commercially available a few decades ago. It is used in
potting and sowing composts, to reclaim and improve soil, as a moisture-retaining
soil mulch as it retains both air and water, is good in containers and can be
used for storing vegetables. It is available all year round, free of weed
seeds, heavy metals, or other toxins and, is ready-to-go with no need to
compost, consistent in quality and ignoring the environmental cost - it’s
cheap. Interestingly I never realised that peat-free composts tend to be heavier,
so the haulage costs are higher.
There are
alternatives to peat, and some may be better than or as good as peat in certain
applications and some have been inconsistent in their quality in the past.
However, it may be more prudent to not look for a single alternative to peat
but a range of materials to fulfil the various roles played by peat. Many gardeners are peat free today and have
quietly found suitable alternatives and we need to look at these as examples we
may choose to follow. Effective use of many materials such as leaves, municipal
waste, sewage and animal manures are some of the more sustainable and
environmental options. Alternative materials, such as bark, coir, green compost
and wood waste are already being now being used and blended but not fast enough
to meet the government targets.
Early in 2009,
B&Q stopped selling 100 per cent peat products, and resources are going
into developing the use of green waste as an alternative growing medium. Today however
some 10 years on, peat is still the
majority ingredient in their best-selling multi-purpose compost.
The big question is
whether we can exchange the convenience of a bag at relatively little cost
versus several different materials that may involve work and time and increased
cost.
Let’s look at where
peat is used and alternatives:
Soil
Improvement – how to increase drainage and aeration in heavy
soils water retention and fertilization of lighter soils.
Here there is a
simple solution – recycle green and household waste and make your own compost
and use it to improve soil or use well-rotted animal manures or leaf mould from
the fall of leaves in autumn. Green manures also provide a healthy soil boost
and can be grown over winter and dug in in early Spring to prepare the land.
There are commercial
products; finely shredded composted bark, straw and sewage sludge and the
‘flavour of the month’ coir. Chemical fertilisers should be avoided as they may
have an impact on the activity of those who live in the soil and mushroom
compost may have high pH and contain pesticide residues.
Soil
Mulches – how to retain moisture, protect the surface from
heavy rains, supress weeds and make it look nice.
Again, the simplest
solution is to make your own or other renewable materials such as wood chips,
wood shavings, grass mowings, old straw, weathered sawdust or shavings, horse
manure and bark.
Seed
and potting composts – traditionally seed and potting composts were made
of leaf mould and fine loam and here we must acknowledge the high usage of peat
in commercial growing. There are many seed and potting mixes with the former
requiring a finer, less rich mixture than that for potting. But will
individuals accept the inconvenience of mixing and matching to the needs of
different types of plant or opt for the multi-purpose compost in the bag? Peat
free compost are courser and so not always good for seed sowing, especially of
small seeds.
Today Coir mixes are
becoming popular and more available and other materials such as rockwool,
perlite and vermiculite can replace peat but have a different set of
environmental issues.
Planting
Mixtures – replacing peat in planting out trees and shrubs
with a combination of soil improving and mulch materials will provide the same
benefits. Again it’s about make your own.
Storing
Vegetables – there are many alternative ways to store root
vegetables. Fine sand and fine grade shredded bark are options.
The most popular alternative
to peat today is coconut coir, which is just a waste-product from coconut
processing. It can be used as hanging basket liners, a potting medium, mulch
cover or as a soil conditioner and it is claimed that it is superior to peat
moss as it retains more water. Coconut coir bricks once soaked in water will
expand up to 10 times their original size. Seed pots made from coconut coir are
also now available.
Those who have read
my DNA article about my granddad may be interested to know he never bought a bag
of compost in his life and passionately believed in making your own. His shed
was full of bags of various sizes of all sorts he mixed into make his potting
and seed mixes. He would drive out of town to collect his horse manure. He was
always attending to his and my mum’s compost boxes. I remember him laughing out
loud when he discovered a family of field mice in his heap and saying that they
were a bonus but had to go as grandma wouldn’t understand.
Next we shall look
at the options that could exist to make a difference and make peat free a
reality in the consumer market and apply pressure on the commercial market too.
