'It can be done': peat-free garden to feature at Hampton Court flower show [View all]
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/apr/30/peat-free-garden-hampton-court-flower-show-arit-anderson
It can be done: peat-free garden to feature at Hampton Court flower show
Gardeners World presenter Arit Anderson creating colourful display to encourage gardeners to move away from peat
Helena Horton, Environment reporter
Tue 30 Apr 2024 09.29 EDT
A completely peat-free garden will be showcased at the Hampton Court Palace flower show so the public can have a chat about peat-free gardening and learn how to do it themselves.
Peat-free compost has been a divisive topic in the gardening world, with some gardeners arguing that it is not as good as the peaty stuff for growing plants.
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Bogs are one of the most critical carbon sinks in the UK, and often have extremely biodiverse and fragile habitats. Wildlife and environmental groups have made banning peat a critical demand in the past few years and the UK government announced a ban on peat for gardeners in 2022, which was supposed to be enacted this year. But this ban has now been delayed until 2030 at the earliest, and the relevant legislation to make it happen has still not gone through parliament.
The ban has faced opposition from parts of the farming and horticulture industries, with the Horticulture Trade Association saying when it was announced: Due to the current lack of quality alternative materials to peat, an immediate ban on peat could impact significantly on the availability of growing media. This would mean that the UKs 30 million gardeners would be faced with products which have not gone through a lengthy enough quality assurance process, and which would have higher costs.
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