Peat free focus
Becky Searle gets up close and personal with the plight of the peat bog
We gardeners have had a long love affair with peat. Now that there is a likely ban on its use in horticulture on the horizon, there has been an urgent shift in the industry towards all things peat-free. For us, this means changing how we use compost and finding ways to make it work for us amid so much choice and variation.
Moreover, it takes time to get a good recipe for peat-free compost. The surge in demand resulted in some poorer-quality products being brought to the market before they had time to be adequately tested and refined. This led to peat-free composts in general getting a bit of bad press. However, there are many high-quality shop-bought and home-made alternatives.
Why has peat been so popular?
As far as the horticultural industry has historically been concerned, peat is a very convenient resource. It can be dug up and bagged with very little processing. It holds water well and drains well. It’s inert, devoid of life and almost pure carbon. So, peat has played such a big part in horticulture over the last century and so many of us have become so familiar with its use.
However, there are so many reasons why we should move away from using peat in our gardens, besides its looming ban. This is why I’d like to take you on a little journey into the world of peat and explain why its natural habits offer so much value to humankind, intact.
How peat is made slowly
Peat is produced so slowly that its regeneration cannot keep up with consumption. It is formed under very wet conditions, so peatlands are, by definition, also wetlands. They are home to many weird and wonderful plants, making them incredible resources for biodiversity. However, the primary species is sphagnum moss. Moss can’t transport water and nutrients around its tissues. This means it doesn’t grow stems, making it very slow-growing. It also needs lots of moisture to be able to grow.
In drier ecosystems, organisms in the soil break down leaves and plant matter quickly, clearing away our autumn leaves in time for spring. Peat moss, however, is broken down anaerobically by specialised bacteria, and the process takes a long time. All these factors mean that peat production is very slow; it takes ten years to make just one centimetre of peat.
How peat bogs help us
Peat is an impressive multitasker. It provides us with a multitude of ecosystem services, which have historically been undervalued in favour of the immediate price of resale. Ecosystem services are the numerous benefits that humans receive from healthy ecosystems or natural resou
