What do you do?
During the DEFRA and industry collaborative Transition to Peat-Free project, I am investigating various responsibly sourced, locally available, economically viable and ecologically sustainable peat alternatives.
I am currently working alongside eight leading UK growers (Allensmore, The Farplants Group, Hillier, Hills Plants, Johnsons Nurseries, Lovania, Vitacress and Volmary), who collectively produce around 143 million plants every year, as well as several growing media manufacturers catering for the professional horticultural industry in the UK, including Bulrush Horticulture, ICL, Jiffy, Klasmann, Melcourt and Sinclair. Furthermore, I work with key manufacturers serving growers in the EU to research sustainable alternatives to peat in large-scale commercial settings.
In this five-year collaborative project, my work with the RHS convenes government, growers and growing media manufacturers, through the Growing Media Manufacturers Council (GMMC), the Responsible Sourcing Scheme (RSS), Horticultural Trade Association (HTA) and key horticultural stakeholders in the UK to advance the science and practice of peat-free horticulture.
Progress and research findings are shared with growers and industry through industry events and online via the RHS peat-free hub. The 2023 RHS Industry Transition to Peat-Free Survey provided a benchmark for the project through documenting the peat-free status of the UK horticultural industry in 2023. I enjoy communicating and disseminating evidence-based findings to a broad spectrum of industry stakeholders, including growers and growing media manufacturers, as well as to Government, policymakers, the scientific community and the general public.
Key areas of focus include:
- Peat-free production of alpines, bulbs, bedding plants, culinary herbs, herbaceous perennials, houseplants, shrubs/hardy nursery stock and trees
- Peat-free production of young plants
- Development of new growing media technologies to replace the estimated 1.7m m3 of peat used by the UK horticultural industry in 2021
- Growing protocols, including irrigation and nutrition
- Best practices for using the latest products
- Developing peat-free solutions for challenging plant groups, such as ericaceous and carnivorous species, and for plug plants
I believe that many organic by-products from agricultural and horticultural processes, which are currently considered waste, should instead be regarded as ‘out-of-place’ resources that have potential to replace peat.