I've got through several bags of verve 125lt compost this year and haven't had any complaint about any of them, until the bag I'm on now, in which I found amongst all the twiggy bits a sharp piece of plastic, which for someone who had to have nerve repair surgery on their finger, isn't the best thing to find :O
If you can’t find any peat-free, ask for it. Consumer demand is the single most powerful way to get retailers and manufacturers to change their ways.
More than 94 per cent of the UK’s lowland peat bogs have been destroyed or damaged, and a wealth of wildlife along with it. Bogs take thousands of years to form and are home to all sorts of colourful plants, from the signature sphagnum to carnivorous sundew, bladderwort, bog myrtle and cotton grass (which isn’t really a grass at all!). They provide an environment for rare dragonflies, spiders and other invertebrates and a feeding ground for birds such as the golden plover, meadow pipits and skylarks.
These days bogs are also of interest because they act as stores of carbon dioxide, and harvesting them releases it into the atmosphere.
You can find out what some of the major retailers offer in the way of peat-free composts in The Wildlife Trusts’ leaflet For Peat’s Sake.
I bought 125l of the peat included Verve from B&Q earlier this year. I bought it because it's cheap and Which? reccomended. I found it was fine, pretty good, generally speaking. Didnt find any nasties in mine. I would be very upset if I did though - shocking to hear!
Today I went to buy another bag but they only had peat free. It says on the packet that it contains enough nutrients for 4 weeks. I checked a smaller bag of the peat included stuff, and that says 6 weeks. So, no doubt that the peat stuff is better. I havent opened the peat free yet but will later this week. Hopefully it will be ok. I am starting to wonder about what other means I might use to improve my soil quality cheaply. Green Manures perhaps, real manure, home composter...I might start a seperate thread about that though, so as not to derail this one.
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I have also bought Verve compost. I usually buy the125lt bags and I have found it to be perfectly ok. No complaints at all.
I switched from the verve peat filled to the verve peat free when I noticed it being sold.
I find there's much less cr@p in it, not that I think anything I grow would mind the plastic and wire.
I think it's alright, the verve sowing stuff too, although to be fair I haven't trialled something else to compare...
If you can’t find any peat-free, ask for it. Consumer demand is the single most powerful way to get retailers and manufacturers to change their ways.
More than 94 per cent of the UK’s lowland peat bogs have been destroyed or damaged, and a wealth of wildlife along with it. Bogs take thousands of years to form and are home to all sorts of colourful plants, from the signature sphagnum to carnivorous sundew, bladderwort, bog myrtle and cotton grass (which isn’t really a grass at all!). They provide an environment for rare dragonflies, spiders and other invertebrates and a feeding ground for birds such as the golden plover, meadow pipits and skylarks.
These days bogs are also of interest because they act as stores of carbon dioxide, and harvesting them releases it into the atmosphere.
You can find out what some of the major retailers offer in the way of peat-free composts in The Wildlife Trusts’ leaflet For Peat’s Sake.
I'm still trying to make my own compost.....I bought 125l of the peat included Verve from B&Q earlier this year. I bought it because it's cheap and Which? reccomended. I found it was fine, pretty good, generally speaking. Didnt find any nasties in mine. I would be very upset if I did though - shocking to hear!
Today I went to buy another bag but they only had peat free. It says on the packet that it contains enough nutrients for 4 weeks. I checked a smaller bag of the peat included stuff, and that says 6 weeks. So, no doubt that the peat stuff is better. I havent opened the peat free yet but will later this week. Hopefully it will be ok. I am starting to wonder about what other means I might use to improve my soil quality cheaply. Green Manures perhaps, real manure, home composter...I might start a seperate thread about that though, so as not to derail this one.