Since my writeup is suited for a different code
other than html I will link you do screenshots
of it, instead of copy/paste it here.

The link is
http://s166.photobucket.com/albums/u100/trevt20/

And the order of the pictures is from right to left

Make sure after you click on each picture that
you then click on it once more to "Zoom in"
otherwise you can't read them.

And by the way - Greetings from USA! I feel privileged to be talking to my fellow UK'ers across the world! =)

Most people here probably already know the damage that using peat does to the environment and peat bog ecosystems, and try to avoid using peat products. We have several peat-free composts widely available at garden centres here in the UK. As gardeners, we know that peat is pretty useless for growing things in. There's already a post here about the disadvantages of peat pellets.

Perhaps people in the US are not aware of the problems associated with using peat in gardens, but I assure you we've been aware of it over here for decades and most gardeners are already trying to avoid it.

I guess what I would have to say is that (from my perspective, and I'm sure, yours as well -) the UK has a larger base of (or popularity for) 'eco-friendly' philosophy. Additionally, the abundance of peat sites close to you helps raise awareness, I'm sure.

I would *hope* that most people are aware of the bad things that come from mining peat. It has been my experience over here in America (and, granted, I'm only a 22 year old new-bee to the world) that many people still support peat. It seems very popular to me. It's always on the shelves at large commercial stores like Home Depot, etc. I've worked with many commercial gardeners that use bales of the stuff in order to amend large plots of land.

The reason being, in my mind, is that -

-Peat is popular
-It's convenient
-And many people are persuaded by those around them to use it
-Also, many don't give 1 thought to the environmental impact that mining it has! Eek.

That's just my experience, it may be incorrect, who knows. That's just the feeling I get, having been involved in the hobbyist/commercial (and by commercial I mean small business) horticultural sectors...

I'm glad I can have the chance to hear from you all across the pond..Regardless, I hope my post will shed some light for people that were not otherwise aware of the problem.

Later!

The problem of large-scale use by people 'amending' the composition of their soil is also almost non-existent over here. We tend to go with whatever we've got, and find plants to fit our soil, rather than attempt to change our gardens to fit what we would like to grow. And, of course, our gardens are much smaller (100' x 100' is bigger than average).

Peat is popular with large-scale growers because it's lightweight and cheaper to transport, so it's mainly used for cheap packs of pretty annuals in garden centres. People who grow at home usually use some sort of compost, which is probably more easily obtainable than pure peat.

I think that's being overly optimistic. By far the majority of potting composts sold for home use in the UK are still peat. They don't proclaim it quite so proudly on the label any more because most people now have an awareness that peat is somehow "bad", but whatever is on the shelf is what most people will buy.

They sure keep me busy over there at the US forum! Haha =)

I linked them to you, as well.

Man I love the 'net sometimes...talking across the globe with such ease..

This link might interest you. I think that in the UK stopping using peat is similar to things like smoking, seat belt wearing and drink driving. It started off totally acceptable, went through a lone voice of protest phase, started going mainstream and is now pretty much accepted as a sensible way to go. However, that doesn't meant that there are not people who still use peat although progressively more shame facedly as time goes on.

Lou - I can't add two links but if you either google 'peat alternative in horticulture' or use this URL you will get an answer to your question.
www.defra.gov.uk/hort/peat/index.htm

It also explains how coco coir use is a means of waste disposal

Here's the link since gardenweb won't let me link it
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/news/story.php?S_No=904&storyType=garde

Peatbogs: carnivorous plants, amazing archives and carbon "sponges"

Each year in the UK, around 2.5 million cubic metres of peat are sold to commercial and amateur gardeners. In Great Britain, over 94% of the 69,700 ha of peatbogs have been damaged or destroyed. Most of this damage has occurred in the last 50 or so years, since the promotion of large-scale use of peat for the horticultural industry.

Peatbogs are important sites for wildlife. They are unique habitats which support a fascinating variety of birds, invertebrates and plants. Carnivorous plants such as sundews (Drosera species) thrive in these low-nutrient ecosystems. They trap insects and digest them to supplement their food supply.

Peat is partially decomposed plant debris, and can include trees, shrubs, herbs, sedges, grasses and mosses. Peat forms where plant debris is added faster than it is broken down. In cool, waterlogged conditions, the lack of oxygen and low temperatures limit the rate at which micro-organisms degrade plant material. In places the peat can be many metres deep. The lowest layers of peat can be thousands of years old. Peat preserves trapped plant remains, pollen, human artefacts and even bodies such as "Pete Marsh", the 2,300 year-old Lindow Man in Cheshire. To scientists and archeologists these natural archives can reveal stories of past civilizations, botanical history and climate change.

Peatbogs also help to protect the earth from global warming. As plants grow they absorb carbon dioxide. It is 'locked up' within the plant structure, and stored as the plants turn to peat. When peatlands are drained or disturbed, the peat starts to decompose. The carbon dioxide is released back into the atmosphere where it acts as a potent greenhouse gas.

http://www.kew.org/ksheets/peat.html

Peat, with very few exceptions.

Check this out.
This has strongly reinforced my views!

PDF version:
[url]http://www.puyallup.wsu.edu/~Linda Chalker-Scott/Horticultural Myths_files/Myths/Horticultural peat.pdf[/url]

Linda Chalker-Scott, Ph.D., Extension Urban Horticulturist and Associate Professor,
Puyallup Research and Extension Center, Washington State University

The Myth of Permanent Peatlands:

"Peat moss is an environmentally friendly organic amendment essential for many
horticultural purposes"

The Myth

Peatlands are specialized types of wetlands whose value to human civilization has been
recognized for centuries. Perhaps the most continued use of peatlands is as a fuel source:
chunks of peat are cut from bogs, dried, and used for cooking and heating purposes. Though
many societies have turned to other forms of energy production, this practice continues today
especially where other fuel sources are absent.
Peat moss, a principal plant component of peatlands, has also been an important part of the
horticulture industry; it’s used as a soil amendment both in gardens and container plants and as
an aesthetic topdressing for potted plants and floral arrangements. Consisting primarily of
Sphagnum species, peat moss has an amazing capacity to hold water like a sponge, slowly
releasing it as the surrounding soil dries out. Since peat is 100% natural, it must be a truly
"green" gardening product – right?

The Reality

The "greenness" of any product is determined both by the environmental friendliness of the
product and its method of production. Unfortunately, there is no economically realistic,
environmentally friendly way to harvest peat moss. This is a natural resource that accumulates at
the glacially slow rate of 0.5 – 1.0 mm per year, or about 1/4 of an inch. Peat harvesting involves
the removal of deep layers of peat that have literally taken centuries to accumulate. In fact, since
harvesting implies sustainability, it is more accurate to describe commercial peat removal as
mining.
While peat used for fuel can be necessary for human survival, that used for modern horticultural
purposes is not and therefore represents luxury consumption. For consumers to make an
informed decision about whether or not to use peat moss requires an understanding of the roles
peatlands play in the environment. Like other wetlands, these systems help purify and store
water. Perhaps most important is that they are the single largest terrestrial store of carbon,
equivalent to 75% of all carbon in the atmosphere (CC-GAP, 2005). Paradoxically, the
destruction of peatlands is not yet recognized as a significant part of global climate change.
Most damaging to educational efforts regarding peatland conservation is industry assertions that
there are no substitutes for peat moss in horticultural applications. Similarly, there is often a
perception that this natural resource cannot be diminished; sales material from one local peat
producer claims their supply of peat from a 150-acre lake is "virtually limitless." One industry
group asserts that "peat is still the only affordable and readily available substrate that can be used
to grow all kinds of plants….It is still the underpinning of the horticulture industry, worldwide."
The focus by many peat moss producers is on restoration of peat bogs with little, if any, mention
of viable alternatives.

Peatland restoration

Peatlands degraded by mining activity do not revert to their former functionality; changes in
hydrology and physical structure are hostile to Sphagnum re-establishment. Recently, degraded
peatlands have been restored through the blockage of drainage ditches, seeding with Sphagnum,
and application of a mulch layer to reduce water loss. When degraded peatlands are restored, the
ability to hold water is improved but CO2 continues to be released by high levels of bacterial
respiration, which represents the decomposition of mulch and other organic matter. It takes a
number of years for the photosynthetic rate of new peatland plants to outpace the respiratory
rate: until this happens, even restored peatlands represent a net loss of carbon to the atmosphere
and thus contribute to greenhouse gas production. These results have been reported by more
than one research team, representing global peatland research.

Peat moss alternatives

While the efforts to restore degraded peatlands are admirable, it is more environmentally and
economically sound to reduce luxury use of peat and promote viable alternatives. Contrary to
what some peat moss producers claim, there are many economically feasible, environmentally
sustainable substitutes for horticultural peat. International research on peat alternatives dates
back at least 30 years and has identified a plethora of materials whose easy availability, low cost,
and sustainability make them attractive substitutes for peat moss. These materials, alone or in
combination, ranging from traditional materials such as composted bark, yard and agricultural
wastes, and livestock manures to more current waste products including brewing waste, coconut
coir, olive mill waste, pulp and paper sludge, municipal solid waste and sewage sludge, and even
foam cubes. These materials have been used in the rooting and/or production of many plant
materials, including vegetables, annual flowers, houseplants, woody ornamentals, and timber
species.
Granted, there have been initial problems with some of these materials, including high levels of
heavy metals or salts, or suboptimal carbon:nitrogen ratios. Research continues to address these
problems, refining the methods needed to produce high-quality alternatives. In fact, many of
these alternative substrates have repeatedly performed better than peat in terms of plant vigor and
quality. If this isn’t enough of an incentive to switch to peat alternatives, consider these other
documented benefits:

• Economically sustainable when using locally produced materials

• Reuse of agricultural and timber waste products that otherwise contribute to landfills

• Ability to decrease fertilizer applications by using a more nutrient rich medium

• Increased drought resistance of transplants when grown in media with less water holding
capacity than peat moss

Peatland conservation

In 1971 the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands was established in response to public concern over
increasing degradation of wetlands, including peatlands. The Convention’s mission combines
conservation with sustainable use of wetlands through international action and cooperation. The
Coordinating Committee for Global Action on Peatlands (CC-GAP) was established by the
Ramsar Convention in 2002 "to monitor and guide global action for peatland management."
This was a formal recognition that "peatlands are a vital part of the world's wetland resources" as
well as their "importance to the maintenance of global diversity and for the storage of water and
carbon, which constitute a function vital to the world's climate system." Among the Guidelines
for Global Action on Peatlands published by CC-GAP are these two:

• "Citizens should be provided with information and educational materials that will enable
them to make informed choices concerning lifestyle and consumer behavior compatible
with the wise use of peatlands."

• "Research into, and development of, appropriate sustainable alternatives to peat in, for
example, horticultural use, should be encouraged."
It is important to recognize that the Ramsar Convention and its affiliated groups do not promote
a hands-off approach to peatlands. On the contrary, CC-GAP encourages sustainable use of
peatlands, described as "those uses of mires and peatlands for which reasonable people now and
in the future will not attribute blame." Such uses balance natural resource conservation and
carbon protection with economic needs.
Some countries have more quickly responded to the global crisis of degraded peatlands. In the
United Kingdom, for example, much of the peat extraction for horticultural purposes has been
reduced or eliminated. The UK Peat Producers’ Association and the mushroom industry (the
second-largest user of horticultural peat) have commissioned research on peat alternatives and
develop peat-free products. Many UK websites, including Kew Gardens, carry information on
peat alternatives.
Finally, some countries such as South Africa have neither peatlands nor resources to import peat
moss. These countries have managed to find suitable substitutes for horticultural peat moss and
have sustainable plant production industries.To suggest these substitutes do not exist is
deceptive; to destroy a natural resource for luxury consumption is unconscionable.

The Bottom Line

• Peatlands are biodiverse ecosystems with important environmental functions in water
quality and carbon storage

• Degraded peatlands are environmentally non-functional, resulting increased water loss,
poorer water quality, and decreased storage of atmospheric carbon

• Restored peatlands are partially functional as they can reduce water loss, but they
contribute even more to global CO2 production than degraded peatlands

• Peat moss is a non-renewable resource whose replacement takes centuries

• Horticultural peat moss can be reduced and/or replaced by using a number of available
materials that are both economically feasible and environmentally friendly

• Consumers need to be fully informed as to the environmental function of peatlands as
well as alternatives to horticultural peat moss
Additional Web Resources
CC-GAP. 2005. Peatlands. Do You Care? Coordinating Committee for Global Action on
Peatlands (CC-GAP). Available at [url]http://www.imcg.net/imcgpubl.htm[/url].
Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. [url]http://www.ramsar.org/[/url]

I am not quite so sanguine about the supposed acceptance of non-peat products in the UK. As has already been stated the industry uses it overwhelmingly. Peat-free compost is often not available whereas peat always is (and at a lower price), and the quality issues still have to be ironed out.

Local council composting is beginning to happen but needs effort to seek out the resulting product whereas everyone knows where to buy peat-compost. I've been compromising by reducing peat rather than cutting it out completely and using more John Innes. However, all of these products require massive fuel expenditure on transportation.

I take the point that home-made compost could and should replace these products. I am a reasonably experienced and willing gardener but even so I can't produce compost reliably and in sufficient quantities to meet my potting needs. So what hope is there for the casual and inexperienced Sunday gardener that just wants to stick in a few bedding plants?

The garden/nursery industry changed out of all recognition when container-grown plants, packaged in peat and carried endless miles around the globe became the norm. Reversing those changes will be slow and difficult if the consumer is to continue getting what they have been used to and the industry is to continue making their profits.

That is just it; the hope is in education. I know what you mean, but many more people (everywhere) are beginning to see the light as far as compost goes. It is simple enough to start a compost heap, and there are various types of containers and such from which to choose if an open one is a concern.

We all have to think of the environment as you agree; no matter how small our needs are. I encourage new gardeners especially to become familiar with the merits of composting.

Just start one. Soon you will have enough to meet your needs. :)