The way in which you garden can have a major impact on the wider environment. An acid test to your environmental credentials is in your stance on peat.
The
RSPB and National Trust have joined forces to encourage Britain's gardeners to find alternatives to using peat in the garden. Britain's gardeners consume two thirds of all peat used in horticulture. This finite natural resource has considerable natural and historical importance and cannot be replaced.
- 94% of the UK's lowland peat bog has been lost.
- Since the 1950s the biggest use of peat has been in horticulture.
- Lowland peat bogs are home to some of our rarest plant and animal species, including plants such as carnivorous sundews, and birds such as the golden plover.
- They are also the final resting places for 'bog bodies' and ancient everyday objects, such as leather purses and flint tools.
- Full regeneration of a damaged bog expected to take hundreds of years, while historic features are lost forever.
- One of the Government targets is that 90% of materials in growing media and soil improvers should be non-peat by 2010.
Unless multi-purpose and other composts are actually labelled as being peat free, then they probably contain peat. Make sure that you check the labels of the compost you buy very carefully before parting with your money. Make sure it says 'peat free': don't let ignorance ruin your good intentions and rob future generations of one of our most special natural habitats.
