Industry figures spoken to by HortWeek ahead of HortWeek's growing media seminar at the British Ornamentals Association conference on February 4 at Stoneleigh say people want certainty and to know when legislation happening. They suggest the Government has bigger issues than peat and even that Defra has yet to do enough work on whether peat-free is as sustainable as peat.
A Defra spokesperson told HortWeek: "There will be updates to share on this in due course. I don’t have a specific timeline or anything to share at the moment."
Defra minister Baroness Hayman said recently, repeating previous Defra statements: “We are committed to ending the sale of horticultural peat and peat-containing products by the end of this Parliament [2029]."
At the event, HortWeek will examine the current state of peat-free growing with David Denny of the HTA, a Westland representative, Robin Squance of the BOA technical committee, Michael Smith of bedding grower WD Smith & Son and Steve Carter of Fleurie Nursery. We will discuss themes around legislation, growing media standards, costs, market demand and technical challenges.
BOA chairman Derek Jarman says more peat will be used in 2026, and that was probably the case in 2025 as growing media sales rose during a strong gardening season and some manufacturers upped their peat percentage in their products: “This is the year that peat makes a comeback as growers, retailers and consumers finally realise that plants grown without it are far inferior to plants grown with some peat in the growing media. I’m not advocating growing in 100% peat, but with a proportion of peat that gives superb plant growth and long shelf life.
“I would suggest in the current market this figure is 50%, and if the Government wants to legislate in 2030, let’s have a law that says plants cannot be grown in a mix that has more than 50% peat in it. I’m sure the European plant propagators and exporters will be able to comply, given four years’ notice."
Further questions received:
- When will the Government give certainty to nurseries about peat use?
- When will the RHS spread advice about how to grow peat-free commercially? What mix works with which plant?
- What is peat's carbon footprint compared to peat-free?
- When will there be a standard measure of peat-free efficacy?
- What should nurseries who are going peat-free do because they are at a commercial disadvantage compared to those who aren't, unless they are supplying retailers who only want peat-free?
- Why have the carbon footprint calculations of peat-free not been done?
Email hortweek@haymarket.com with further questions.
The RHS is campaigning to ban peat and helping with peat-free trials at nurseries. Lead researcher Dr Raghavendra Prasad left for Bulrush owner Pindstrup in Denmark in November, amid competition from other peat companies who are developing peat-frees.
Sarah Dyke MP's Peat Ban Bill appears dead and the wording still calls for a ban by the end of 2025.
