Peat ban

Posts

• bédé Posts: 3,095

  August 2022 edited August 2022

  I have yet to find a compost that wets-out as readily as spagnum moss peat and rewets if it dries out.  THis is a major problem for amatuers as well as professionals.
  
  My own compost, from the heap, is 50% lawn mowings, 40% beech hedge cuttings (comminuted by mowing) and 10% "other".  Built up just as it comes in.  I also separately compost sacks of mixed leaves.  After 2 years, both are better than any commercial peat-free compost.  But compost from the heap is not weed-free. And the leavemould is not enough.  Neithe ris really suitable for seeds.   I have not tried council compost.
  
  At the moment I use JINo3 with added home compost for outdoor pots.

   location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
  "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."

  0
• GardenerSuze Posts: 5,692

  August 2022

  I am going to try Sylvagrow expensive but I guess you get what you pay for.

  I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.

  0
• bédé Posts: 3,095

  September 2022

  Suze,  I'll check it out.  But I'm amazed there has been so little response to my question.

   location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
  "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."

  0
• Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889

  September 2022

  bédé said:

  Suze,  I'll check it out.  But I'm amazed there has been so little response to my question.

  I'm not , given the HUGE number of complaints about peat free compost we see on the Forum.
  Most of it seems totally useless, especially for seeds

  Devon.

  1
• JennyJ Posts: 10,576

  September 2022

  I think the subject's been more-or-less discussed to death over the last few years over a number of different threads.
  

  The summary seems to be

  1. Peat-free compost is very variable, not only between brands but from bag to bag of apparently the same stuff.

  2. Most peat-free compost doesn't behave the way we're used to compost behaving, and because of 1. you can't always tell how a particular batch will behave until you try it.
  

  3. It can be improved by adding other materials but not everyone has the resource or the will to do that.

  4. Sylvagrow is consistent and good but not available in all parts of the country (and on the pricy side).
  

  5. Other manufacturers need to do better.
  

  Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  

  5
• Dovefromabove Posts: 88,147

  September 2022 edited September 2022

  I’m not sure what your question was @bédé … it seemed more of a comment that most folk don’t dispute  … there’s not a single question mark in either of your first two posts. 😊 

  
  Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
  
  
  
  
  
  

  1
• bédé Posts: 3,095

  September 2022 edited September 2022

  With formal introduction of a ban on peat, it seemed lke a good time for a review. And shared experiences.
  
   Is it a good time for a revue?  Does this forum need to be question and answer??  
  Does a sentence have to end with a full stop or question mark. Is it OK to start a sentence with "and"?  Innit more like conversation than perfect prose.

   location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
  "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."

  1
• Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889

  September 2022

  methinks if one wants an answer: one has to pose a question.

  Devon.

  0
• Dovefromabove Posts: 88,147

  September 2022

  I wasn’t commenting on your grammar @bédé … Heaven forfend!😱 …  I just wasn’t sure what the question was that required the answer you seemed to expect … 😵‍💫 
  
  To be honest … I think it’s been one of the most frequently discussed subjects on the forum this year  … just some of the threads are here, detailing forum members’ experiences and views 
  
  Perhaps you missed them 😊 
  
  https://forum.gardenersworld.com/discussion/1067411/is-this-a-buyer-beware-issue/p1 
  

  
  

  https://forum.gardenersworld.com/discussion/comment/2532645#Comment_2532645 
  

  
  

  https://forum.gardenersworld.com/discussion/1063061/peat-free-compost 
  

  
  

  
  

  
  Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
  
  
  
  
  
  

  0
• McRazz Posts: 440

  September 2022 edited September 2022

  bédé said:

  With formal introduction of a ban on peat, it seemed lke a good time for a review. And shared experiences.
  
   Is it a good time for a revue?  Does this forum need to be question and answer??  
  Does a sentence have to end with a full stop or question mark. Is it OK to start a sentence with "and"?  Innit more like conversation than perfect prose.

  I might be speaking for myself here, but i think the lack of answers is simply because a lot of us are still using peat and simply don't want to address the elephant in the room.
  
  Sure, there will be the virtuous ones amongst us, or those who choose to go through the unfamiliarity (and often expense) of peat free composts. However, peat just can't be beaten right now.
  
  Our commercial nursery now operates peat free as the business is striving toward a more environmentally friendly model. We tried three different peat free products in bulk and settled on one that was a kind of shredded wood/bracken concoction. The guys hated it at first but seem to have got used to it. We actually ran some trials and the peat free stuff performed better as a containerisation medium with notable increases in vegetative growth.
  
  I should add that we only work with semi-mature trees and large specimens so its a bit easier for us to adjust to peat free as we're doing very little propagating, liner growing, seeding etc.
  
  On a domestic level for more hands-on gardening peat is still king in my opinion. Better stock up before 2024!
  
  Clarification - I am of course 100% in favour of the ban. 

  0