About the event
The second peat-free winter conference held by the RHS took place at Lindley Halls in London.
The day consisted of talks, workshops and a panel discussion for horticultural professionals, with additional trade stand displays on sustainable and peat-free products.
The talks and workshops covered many different aspects of peat-free growing, and were held by growing media manufacturers, growers, researchers and policymakers. Slides from each of the presentations can be found below.
Dr Raghavendra Prasad – RHS
The Transition to Peat-Free fellowship (6.8MB pdf)
Jiffy and Bryants Nurseries
The transition to peat-free (6.8MB pdf)
Dr Nicholas Cryer – RHS
Irrigation management in peat-free media (1.0MB pdf)
Westland Sinclair and Double H Nursery
Growing without peat (3.2MB pdf)
Bulrush and Volmary
Peat-free progress in ornamental substrates (1.5MB pdf)
Nikki Barker – RHS
RHS policy on peat for shows exhibitors (0.95MB pdf)
Melcourt and Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants
Peat-free growing media (7.1MB pdf)
Southern Trident and Boultons Wholesale Nurseries
Success with peat-free growing media (2.6MB pdf)
ICL and Provender Nurseries
A journey to sustainable growing media (3.0MB pdf)
Fargro
Growing in peat-free (1.6MB pdf)
Rijnbeek Perennials
The road to peat-free perennials (1.4MB pdf)
Defra
Our policy for the future of peat (0.97MB pdf)
Industry panel
The industry panel – Melanie Asker (Greenwood Plants), Chris Young (landscape designer), Stephen Godfrey (Jiffy) and Mike Burks (The Gardens Group) – were asked the below questions, which were sent in advance.
- There are lots of peat-free growers out there – would advertising plants as being peat-free at point of sale be a benefit?
- What is the best way to get the industry to be joined-up in promoting peat-free plants?
- Should peat-free compost be rebranded? What would be better to show what it is, rather than what it’s not – e.g. planet-friendly compost?
- Are landscape designers and architects specifying peat-free plants?
- Are public authorities/planners specifying peat-free plants and are they required to?
If you have any thoughts or ideas you would like to share about any of these topics, please get in touch by emailing
[email protected]