Over Catherine Dawson’s career she conceived, defined, and brought to fruition an alternative, which is as robust, consistent, and good as peat.
Her journey into the horticultural industry began from the ground up, having received a BSc Honours in Soil Science from the University of Newcastle. Having completed the degree, she spent four years working in agriculture and viticulture, including irrigation research for vineyards in South Africa. Catherine joined the bark producer, CamBark, in the early 1980s. The use of bark in growing media was a novelty at the time, it could be argued she wrote the book on it. The products she invented were the first in the emerging field of peat free media.
Her career at Melcourt started in 1992 and involved making the dream of peat-free media a reality. During this time, the awareness of environmental issues, combined with Catherine’s determination to develop a product which could compete with non-renewable alternatives placed her at the vanguard of the change in attitudes and business practices. As a small company, this meant plenty of personal hands-on trial work to develop the product, while constantly evaluating the quality of the novel media both in-house and through partnerships she brokered at nurseries across the UK.
As with all progress, peat reduction in UK horticulture remains a controversial issue; consequently, she became involved in some of the more political aspects of the subject. She has provided a calm and measured tone which is respected by governments, politicians, and the wider horticultural community.
As a member of the International Plant Propagator’s Society, she brought her expertise to a highly technical area of horticulture. Her contribution has helped develop good practice across the industry, disseminated expertise and helped ensure that UK horticulture is the best in the world.
To help steward the introduction of peat free media, she rose to chair the Growing Media Association. She worked on the cross-industry Sustainable Growing Media Task Force and is a founder of the new Responsible Sourcing of Growing Media Scheme. These pioneering government industry partnerships bring transparency to the impact of the ingredients used in all media, allowing both growers and gardeners to scrutinise more closely both the environmental and social impacts of the growing media they are using.
Fairweather paid tribute:
"From the beginning when I came knowing nothing [about peat-free], Catherine knew so much and was willing to share so much. A very calm and understated person, but with amazing knowledge. And she worked with a product [bark] that we now find so important in going peat-free—a waste product at the time that was turned into a great resource. In the future, as we are obviously all facing the peat-free challenge, so have a great deal to thank Catherine for. Congratulations, Catherine. Well deserved."
