The government has announced a ban on all peat compost sales to home gardeners from 2024. After the ban you will only be able to buy peat-free alternatives in garden centres, DIY stores and online.
Which? Gardening has been testing peat-free composts for over 20 years. The majority of the composts we test are peat-free as we want to give our members as much information as possible about sustainable alternatives.
See our results to find the best peat-free composts for you.
What will happen after the ban?
You will no longer be able to buy bags of peat compost for use at home. This includes products that contain peat, such as soil improvers.
The legislation will only apply in England. Environmental issues are devolved to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, but Defra says that talks are ongoing with the devolved administrations on enacting the ban across the United Kingdom.
Some plants sold in garden centres will still be potted into peat, although the government is due to hold talks with UK professional growers shortly to discuss banning peat use in nurseries.
Compost manufacturers have rapidly increased the number of peat-free composts on sale, and many garden centres already stock a good range. Which? Gardening research found around 45% of composts on sale across 54 garden centres were peat-free.
Some DIY and garden centre chains have stated their aim to be peat-free before 2024 and others already display the amount of peat in each compost alongside the price. The number of peat-free soil improvers is also increasing and recent testing in Which? Gardening shows there are some excellent products available.
Read our guide to all your need to know about peat-free compost.
How to grow with peat-free compost
Peat-free composts have been taken up enthusiastically by some gardeners, but others are still sceptical after poor experiences. In our compost trials, Which? Gardening has found some exceptionally poor peat-free composts, but also some great ones.
Gardeners have been used to growing in peat compost, which varies relatively little in quality. Peat-free composts are made from many various materials, in many different ratios, which means gardeners have to be ready to change how they grow plants.
Which? Gardening uses peat-free compost for all our growing trials at our Capel Manor College trials site and have found it as good as peat, but we have to pay more attention to watering and feeding.
Some peat-free composts are very free-draining and so need to be watered more often. It can also be harder to spot which pots need water and which are already saturated as some dry out of the surface but are wet underneath and vice versa.
Get used to picking up small pots to feel the weight. If it's light, water it. If it's heavy, leave it alone. You can also use the finger test, feeling the moisture below the surface of the pot, especially with large pots.
Our trials have also shown that you need to use liquid feed earlier with peat-free composts. Feed as soon as growth starts to slow, following the dosage and frequency recommendations on the label. Which? Gardening has run trials to find the best liquid plant feeds.
Pots of summer bedding and veg also need a good controlled-release fertiliser to keep them fed throughout the summer. Our trials of composts for container plants show that all composts benefit from the addition of controlled-release fertiliser, unless this has been added in the bag, but you still need to combine this with a Best Buy compost.
Why should we avoid using peat?
In its natural state, peatland is a carbon sink, able to store large amounts of carbon dioxide. It is formed primarily from sphagnum moss which remains without rotting in anaerobic conditions, that is without oxygen, under the naturally high water table of bogs. The moss continues to grow on the surface, locking in carbon. The resulting peat is laid down very slowly, with only 1mm forming per year.
When peat is harvested for horticulture, the bogs are drained and the peat is exposed on the surface. Without water, oxygen gets in and the peat starts to break down quickly, releasing into the atmosphere around 13 tonnes of carbon from a hectare of ground every year.
While much of the peat used in horticulture is currently imported from elsewhere is Europe, the release of carbon dioxide through its harvest effects us as much as the countries where it is collected.
Peatlands are also crucial habitats, supporting rare and endangered plants, insect and bird species, including swallowtail butterflies, hen harriers and short-eared owls. When bogs are drained to harvest peat or for agriculture, the entire ecosystem is lost. Peatlands are also crucial for filtering rainwater, as well as storing water that would otherwise cause flooding.
Chair of Natural England, Tony Jupiter, said: 'Peatlands are precious ecosystems that harbor beautiful and fascinating wildlife, shape the character of iconic landscapes, purify water and help to reduce flood risk. They are also our largest natural carbon stores, locking away over 580 million tonnes.
'This ban on the sale of peat-based compost and work to phase out use in other areas is an essential step toward protecting these valuable natural assets and allowing for the recovery of degraded areas.'
Why is legislation being introduced?
A voluntary ban on peat use has been mooted for decades. Initially the compost industry was tasked by government with eradicating peat from composts by 2010. This was extended to 2020 to help manufacturers develop good quality alternatives. However, this deadline was also missed and so a ban has been imposed.
There have been increasing calls in the past few years for an immediate ban, although many NGOs, including the National Trust, RHS and RSPB, were looking for a ban before 2025. Gardeners are also changing their buying habits, shifting to peat-free and demanding more choice in their local garden centres.
In planning the legislation, Defra sought views from industry and the public. From 5,000 responses, 95% were in favour of an outright ban.
The amount of peat on sale has dropped in the past few years, with many peat composts now containing significant amount of peat-free ingredients such as treated wood fibre. According to the most recent figures from the Horticultural Trades Association, peat made up less than 30% of the compost sold to amateur growers in 2021, but this still amounted to more than a million cubic meters of peat.
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