Peat-free

"Peat-free" describes any bagged compost made without peat. Instead of digging up bogs, it's blended from renewable or recycled ingredients — composted bark, wood fibre, coir (coconut husk), composted green waste, and sometimes a little grit or wool. The bag does the same job as the old peat-based stuff: filling pots, sowing seeds and potting on. It just gets there a different way.

Why peat is being phased out

Peat bogs are among the UK's most important wild habitats. They lock up vast amounts of carbon, support rare plants and wildlife, and take thousands of years to form. Digging peat for compost releases that stored carbon and destroys ground that can't realistically be replaced in a human lifetime. Because of this, the sale of bagged peat compost to home gardeners is being phased out across the UK, and the major retailers have already moved their ranges over. For a beginner today, peat-free is simply the normal choice — you may struggle to find anything else.

How peat-free behaves a little differently

Peat-free composts aren't quite like the peat ones experienced gardeners grew up with, so two habits are worth adjusting.

• Watering. Many peat-free mixes are coarser and drain faster, so the surface can look bone-dry while there's still moisture below — and once a peat-free bag dries out fully, it can be slow to take up water again. Check by pushing a finger in rather than trusting your eyes, and water little and often. Bark- and wood-based mixes especially reward a steady hand.
• Feeding. The fibres in some peat-free composts are broken down by microbes that borrow nitrogen from the mix as they work, so the built-in feed can run out a touch sooner. Start a weekly liquid feed after about four to six weeks, rather than assuming the compost will carry plants all season.

Neither of these is difficult — they're just small tweaks to how you'd treat a pot of old-style compost.

It now performs well

Early peat-free composts, ten or fifteen years ago, had a patchy reputation, and that memory still puts some people off. The products have improved enormously since. Tested peat-free multipurpose composts now match peat-based ones for raising healthy seedlings and growing strong plants, provided you water and feed sensibly. Look for a recognised brand, and choose a dedicated seed compost for sowing and a multipurpose for potting on. If you grow blueberries or other acid-lovers, you'll still need a separate ericaceous bag, as ordinary peat-free is not acidic enough. Get into the watering and feeding rhythm and there's no reason a peat-free garden won't crop just as well as any other.