The pandemic has seen a huge boom in gardening activity with more people spending time at home, it’s allowed them more hours to focus their attention on their outdoor spaces. Alongside this trend we’ve also seen a significant rise in the use of ‘peat-free compost’. You may have noticed the use of this word or seen it thrown about at your local garden centre, and may not really know what it means. Don’t worry, all will be explained below. The increase in using this type of compost has come on the back of environmental studies that demonstrate using peat-free alternatives can have significant benefits to our planet compared to more traditional composts. It’s predicted that peat-free composts are set to replace peat in the next few years. We tell you everything you need to know and how to use it.

So, what is Peat?

Throughout gardening history, Peat has been seen as a cheap and plentiful material that gardeners find easy to use as a compound to help grow their crops. However, recent studies have found peat harvesting can release large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere which isn’t great for the climate crisis.

Peat is essentially an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation, created from sphagnum mosses that grow inside a bog. These mosses accumulate at a rate of 1-2mm per year due to their slow decaying in permanently wet conditions. 

These bogs trap large amounts of carbon. According to research, these undisturbed bogs are more effective at storing carbon than forests. However, in order to harvest peat to produce our much-loved everyday compost, these bogs have to be drained and cleared releasing this excess carbon into our atmosphere.

This partially rotted organic material known as peat is found in multi-purpose composts and they’re great in helping retain water. It’s because of this that some gardeners will also bulk-buy peat in order to add to raised beds so they stay moist.

Peat Bog - Image source: Country Life Magazine

Alternatives to Peat Compost

Peat-free alternatives have been around for decades, however, historically they haven’t always been a popular choice for gardeners due to their ineffectiveness at growing crops. The ‘go-to’ for gardeners has generally been peat options because they’re cheap and reliable. However, with the advance in technology and research, we’re seeing a huge increase in the production of peat-free alternatives that are much more effective than ever before. 

As the name suggests, peat-free compost refers to organic material that doesn’t contain any peat at all. The RHS explains that peat-free tends to be a mixture of organic and inorganic materials that can be used to create it, including things like coir (coconut fibre), composted bark or green waste, grit, and perlite. 'Different formulations have different balances of nutrients,' they say: it's a good idea to carefully read the label to check the suitability of the compost for your garden. If you’re up for the challenge and depending on what you’re wanting to grow, you can of course make your own compost using a mixture of ‘green’ and ‘brown’ materials that will eventually turn into organic matter. Green materials refer to old kitchen waste such as old fruit and vegetable scraps, eggshells, coffee grounds. Brown materials include dried plant materials such as old leaves, straw, twigs, and sawdust. With regular watering and mixing, this combination of materials should eventually transform into your everyday compost.

Benefits of Peat-Free Compost

There are a variety of advantages in using peat-free composts in gardening, especially because of the huge amount of research we now have behind it. Aside from the main benefit, using peat-free composts is proven to be less harmful to our environment because of the fact that it prohibits large amounts of carbon from being released into our atmosphere.

It’s starting to become clear that most mixes of peat-free compost are extremely high in nutrients, and are bulky, which makes them great soil improvers over others that can be too fine. Peat-free compost suits a variety of use cases, but is ideal for potting up established seedlings, general repotting, and also working into existing a garden and topsoil mix as a further improver.

Buying Peat Free Compost

Most pre-made peat-free are typically made from a combination of different organic mixes or additions but this depends on whether it is multi-purpose, or whether it’s a specialist for certain types of plants, or fruits or vegetables. It’s important to research what peat-free compost you require or read the label carefully to ensure it will be suitable for the type of crop you’re wanting to grow.

Our recommendations

If you’ve got no idea where to start when it comes to which peat compost to purchase check out our favourites below:

1. Rocket Grow - Peat Free Organic Mulch - £6.99

Best for: supercharging the health of your garden

Our Peat-free garden mulch, known as Magic Mulch is perfect for gardeners wanting to supercharge the health of their garden. Magic Mulch is a soil conditioner, weed suppressant, mulch, and natural fertiliser, rich in N:P:K (4.4-2.3-5.6) bio-available micro-nutrients for superior yield and growth. Dig it in for soil/compost improvement or No Dig & spread it over your beds and let the organic goodness slowly feed your soil for 3 months.

Key Benefits:

• 100% chemical-free and peat-free
• 100% Soil Association Approved Organic
• A great Weed Suppressant
• 100% weed seed free
• Bio ready nutrients Calcium, Magnesium, Zinc
• Excellent water retention properties
• Boost the structure of your soil, worm friendly

Buy here

2. Rocket Grow - BlackGold Peat Free Compost  - £7.99

Best for: Multi purpose use

 A nutrient-rich Peat-free Multi-Purpose Potting mix for Organic growers.

Our finest blend compost is the perfect mix for gardeners wanting a truly superior product with which to use in their Pots, Containers, Window Boxes, Planters & Hanging Baskets. Our tried and tested balance of all-natural compost and soil improver will genuinely give you superior results. Not only finely graded to make it a joy to work with, but so full of nutrients and supportive fibre that you will see amazing results. We believe this product is far superior to compost that contains peat.

Key Benefits:

• 100% chemical-free and peat-free
• 100% Organic
• Multi-Purpose
• Perfect balance of nutrients & NPK 3.2-1.3-3.4
• Optimum air pockets for your plant roots
• Ideal water retaining fibre addition
• Feeds for 3 months

Buy here

3. Rocket Grow - Garden Gold Compost - £7.99

Best for: Sowing and propagation

A super-fine blend, all-natural Seed & Cutting Compost.

Our Peat-free stage 1 compost blend is the perfect all-round compost for Seeds, Cuttings, Seedlings, Pricking Out & Young Plants. Our tried and tested balance of all-natural compost and soil improver will genuinely give you superior results. Providing a gentle amount of natural nutrients and minerals, fibre and bio-active health, we believe that this product is the best Seed & Cutting compost on the market today.

Key Benefits:

• 100% chemical-free and peat-free
• 100% Organic
• An ideal stage 1 compost blend
• The perfect balance of nutrients & N:P:K 3-1-1
• Optimum air pockets for your plant roots
• Ideal water retaining fibre addition
• Gently feeds for 3 months

Buy here

4 Landscape Bark By Westland - £9.99

Best peat-free bark for flower beds, borders, trees and fruit bushes

Landscape Bark by Westland comes in a 100L pack and is a specially selected grade of screened large bark chips that can be used on flower beds and borders, trees, and fruit bushes. It makes exceptional use for decorative ground cover, it also provides excellent weed suppression, moisture retention, and thermal protection for plant roots.

• 30-50mm large chips for maximum coverage
• Ideal for covering pathways and large areas
• Helps suppress weed growth

Although these are our recommendations there are plenty more peat-free varieties on the market that are highly effective. Discover more today on our peat-free section on our online shop.