The Woods family of Gorey in Co Wexford runs Kilmurry Nursery and is renowned in the gardening industry for growing wonderful award-winning plants. Along with nearly all growers of ornamental plants, they used peat-based compost. Peat is a wonderful material for growing plants. It holds moisture and nutrients well, and it's lightweight for transporting.
The peat has, by and large, come from bogs. These bogs are an oasis of life, full of biodiversity, both floral and fauna. They also act as carbon banks, holding onto them when they are wet but releasing them when they dry out and are cut for peat.And we've dried out a remarkable number of these bogs, often to burn the peat for heat in our homes or to fuel power stations. These natural habitats must be saved for future generations.
Realizing the damage being done as a result of its mass extraction here and elsewhere, Kilmurry Nursery decided to innovate, to lead the way by going peat-free. Known for producing quality plants, it was a challenge for the family to find an alternative growing medium that would produce the same excellent product.
Four different products were trialed for a year. The products were similar — mostly a mix of composted bark of different sizes and a wetting agent. The new peat-free composts didn't hold onto nutrients and peat so trials of new mixtures of slow-release fertiliser were required.
Read more at: independent.ie