Clippings
month’s latest gardening
Compost supplies hit
as peat extraction stops
Peat extraction can release greenhouse gases and destroy fragile peatland habitats
Peat-based composts could disappear
from garden centre shelves sooner than
expected after a High Court ruling halted all peat
extraction in the Republic of Ireland, cutting off
around two-thirds of the UK’s peat supplies.
Compost manufacturers are now relying on
peat reserves, expected to run out in Ireland in
2023, while demand for compost is at an all-time
high due to the coronavirus gardening boom.
Compost prices are likely to rise, faced with the
“double whammy” of greater demand and peat
shortages, says Neil Bragg of the
Growing Media Association. Demand for
The situation in Ireland is
compost is at an
forcing compost manufacturers
to speed up the switch to peat all-time high
alternatives. The average
amount of peat in compost for amateur
gardeners dropped from 53 per cent in 2015
to 41.5 per cent in 2019, and all major companies
now offer a peat-free range. Retailer B&Q
and garden centre chain Dobbies has also
pledged to go peat-free.
Ireland’s largely state-owned compost
manufacturer Bord na Móna expects to be peat-
free within about five years. “Peat isn’t part of
our future,” says communications manager Pat
Sammon. The company launched a peat-free
range, called Happy Composts, last year.
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Multinational fertiliser company ICL, which
extracts peat from bogs in Scotland, recently
lost its planning application to extend peat
extraction at Lochwood Moss in Dumfries
and Galloway. It has now announced its
Humax range of composts will be totally
peat-free from January.
But a sudden rush to peat-free could bring
its own problems, warns Catherine Dawson
of peat-free compost producer Melcourt. “The
infrastructure to supply the sheer quantity of
ingredients simply isn’t there,”
she says. Compost companies
are also having to compete
against a subsidised biofuel
industry for supplies of woodchip
– one of the main substitutes
for peat. “It’s pushing prices up,” says Dawson.
The UK Government says it will not renew any
of the 24 peat extraction licences now operating
in England, further reducing peat supplies. “Until
now, compost prices have been dominated by a
material that’s valued too cheaply,” says Bragg.
Friends of the Earth’s senior nature campaigner
Paul de Zylva agrees: “The price of peat-based
multi-purpose compost does not reflect the
harm caused by digging it up. Making prices
reflect the true cost would help level things up.”
 Tell us what you think at the addresses on p18
Petrol tools more
polluting than cars
Petrol garden tools produce more
pollution than an average hatchback,
with some exceeding maximum
emissions allowed for cars.
Leaf blowers performed worst in
emissions tests carried out by vehicle
testing facility, Millwood, for battery-
powered tool manufacturer EGO –
giving off more particulate pollution
than regulations permit for cars.
Hedgetrimmers and brushcutters also
exceeded car emissions for carbon
monoxide and nitrous oxide.
Almost 80 per cent of home mowers
and half of power tools use petrol, with
the recent shift to battery power. Yet,
lithium-ion batteries are hard to recycle
and have environmental impacts, too.
How can gardeners reduce power tool
use? “Cut hedges every other year and
leave areas of lawn longer,” says Wesley
Olliffe, gardens manager at RHS Wisley.
Charity saved by
‘amazing’ generosity
Gardening charity Greenfingers, which
builds gardens for children’s hospices,
has praised the “amazing” generosity
of online gardening companies who
have donated profits resulting from the
lockdown spike in orders – one company
gave £50,000. But the charity, along with
others such as Perennial and Horatio’s
Garden, still faces huge shortfalls after
the cancellation of fundraising events.
 Can you help? Find fundraising
ideas at: greenfingerscharity.org.uk,
perennial.org.uk, horatiosgarden.org.uk
December 2020