New planet-friendly gardening zone showcased practical solutions for sustainable gardening
In an effort to work towards a Plastic, Peat and Pesticide-free future RHS Malvern Spring Festival are teamed up with growers Edibleculture, to create a 3P-Free zone.
“We’re not anti-plastic – we are passionate about plastic being used as a tool, not a carrying device or a disposable.”
The main focus of the zone was the ‘pot amnesty’ where visitors to the show could take their newly purchased plants and swap the plastic pots for a cardboard POSIpot which can be planted directly into the ground or composted.
Breaking the take-home plastic cycle
Edible Culture and POSIpots trialled the pot amnesty at Gardeners’ World Live last year where they swapped more than 2,000 plastic pots, over 500 plastic bags and a huge number of labels. Nurseries at the show came along to see how it was done and many even reclaimed their pots to use again!
At RHS Malvern Spring, the project stepped up a gear with Edibleculture bringing their own peat-free, pesticide-free plants to sell at the show and partnering with their peat-free compost supplier Melcourt, who also had a demonstration area in the zone.
Advice from the RHS
Edibleculture owner David Ware explains, “We sell really sturdy ‘bags for life’ that our customers can come and refill. We’re not anti-plastic, we are passionate about plastic being used as a tool, not a carrying device or a disposable”.
David’s top tips for being 3P free at home
- Pesticides - Welcome wildlife into your garden, have a pond, encourage birds and have a messy area in the garden.
- Peat – Do your research and find a peat-free compost that you trust, you may have to lower your expectations for how things grow at first.
- Plastic - If you are going to use plastic pots, use good ones that you can use over and over again. It’s about it being used sensibly. Buy the best plastics you can find. Also try to push your local nursey to try and come up with an alternative.
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