Due to the imminent ban on the retail sale of bagged horticultural peat in a move to protect England’s precious peatlands Horticap have taken the decision to stop selling compost containing peat with immediate effect.
We will be stocking Melcourt SylvaGrow 100% Peat-Free as used by our Patron, Alan Titchmarsh.
Statement from the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
Peatlands are the UK’s largest carbon store but only approximately 13% of our peatlands are in a near-natural state. This degradation has occurred due to drainage for agricultural use, overgrazing and burning, as well as extraction for use in growing media.
Peat extraction also degrades the state of the wider peatland landscape, damaging habitats for some of our rarest wildlife such as the swallowtail butterfly, hen harriers and short-eared owls, and negatively impacting peat’s ability to prevent flooding and filter water. A significant proportion of the UK’s water supply lands or flows through peatlands.
Bagged retail growing media accounts for 70% of the peat sold in the UK and is frequently misused, for example being used as a soil improver rather than a medium in which to propagate plants. When this extraction takes place, the carbon stored inside the bog is released as carbon dioxide, contributing to climate change.