Over 100 growers, suppliers, retailers, individuals and organisations, including Buglife, are calling on UK Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, to bring an end to peat sales in the UK.
The Peat-free Partnership is a broad coalition of horticultural businesses and environmental NGOs across the UK with the overarching goal of ending the commercial trade in peat across the UK. Despite the widely recognised environmental damage caused by the use of peat in horticulture and progress towards using alternatives, the trade in peat is still ongoing.
Read the full letter below.
Dear Prime Minister,
We are writing as professional growers, gardeners, nursery owners, compost manufacturers and retailers, plus advocates and supporters of peat-free horticulture to urge you to end years of uncertainty and legislate to end peat sales once and for all.
We are proof that peat is not required for British horticulture to flourish. Between us we grow, buy and sell millions of exceptional quality peat-free plants every single year. With a fair, well-managed and supported transition, there is a bright, successful future ahead for a fully peat-free, proudly sustainable UK horticultural industry.
But legislation is required if this future is to be realised. There have been great strides in reducing peat use. Yet the total amount of peat used for horticulture in 2022 was 950,000m3 – enough to fill 380 Olympic sized swimming pools. This trade continues to destroy irreplaceable peat bogs across the UK and overseas, contrary to legal commitments on climate change and biodiversity.
For a fair, level marketplace, where environmentally damaging peat-grown imports are a thing of the past and home-grown, peat-free horticulture based on a sustainable, circular economy canthrive – legislation is needed. For consumers to buy with confidence, knowing the plants and compost in their trolleys have been produced without contributing to climate change or biodiversity loss – legislation is needed.
To bring an end to the business uncertainty which has plagued the UK’s horticultural industry for well over a decade now – legislation is needed. This is a popular and straightforward measure left as unfinished business by the previous government. We call on you to make this a priority for your government’s programme and legislate without delay to end the sale of peat.
Yours sincerely,
Growers, suppliers and retailers
Emma Maxwell, Ash & Elm Market Gardeners
Jane Cureton, Jemima’s Garden
Julian de Bosdari, Ashridge Nurseries
Holly Short and Marcus Wilson, Kimberly Nurseries
B&Q Ltd
Derek Taylor, Kirton Farm
Nick Hamilton, Barnsdale Gardens
Neil Lucas, Knoll Gardens
Becky Wildman, Gardener and nurserywoman
Malcolm Allison, Malcolm Allison Plants
Darren Shipp, Bedwen Plants
Melcourt Industries
Sarah Holdsworth, Bee Happy Plants & Seeds
Anne and Simon Harrap, Natural Surroundings
Julia Boulton, Beth Chatto’s Plants and Gardens
Sam and Liz Frings, Organic Plant Nursery
Sue Beesley, Bluebell Cottage Nursery and Gardens
Rob and Joanna Courtney, Paddock Plants
Jonathan Sheppard, British Cosmos
Neil, Catherine and Sam Wallsgrove, Pepperpot Nursery
British Wildflower Plants
Jenny Shukman, Picts Hill Alpines
Brenda Smith, Bud Garden Centre
Chris and Ellen Corke, Prenplants Sussex
Augusta Lewis, Sustainable Food Places Coordinator, Bwyd Sir Gâr Food
Toby Thomas, RocketGro Compost
Kevin Hughes, Cally Gardens
Rosi Rollings, Rosybee.com
Danièle Muir, Celtica Wildflowers
Lewis Normand, President, Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society
Co-op Supermarkets
Harry Hoblyn, Rymer Trees and Hedging
Ffin and Steph, Criw Compostio
Seedball
Bleddyn & Sue Wynn-Jones, Crûg Farm Plants
Southwold Succulent Co
Sabina Kucz, Cumbria Wildflowers
Dr Harry Watkins, Executive Director, and Beccy Middleton, Curator, St Andrews Botanic Garden Trust
Earthed Up! Limited
Billy Stott, Stotts Nursery
Colin Stephens, Managing Director, Evergreen Garden Care
Dawn Yeardsley, Sunnyview Flowers
Matthew Dent, Fertile Fibre Compost
Alison Tindale, The Backyard Larder
Sean Higgs, Floralive
Jenny Rafferty and Frantisek Zika, The Humble Bee Gardeners
George Davies, For Peat’s Sake!
Claire Brodie, The Little Green Plant Factory
Mischa Warnecke, Forus Tree
Tim Fuller, The Plantsman’s Preference
Toni Borella, Greenup Farm
Lindsey Jones, The Wildflower Nursery
Melanie Asker, Managing Director, Greenwood Plants
Avery Rowe, Tradescantia Hub
Grow Wilder, Avon Wildlife Trust
Mark Wash, Trecanna Nursery
Lisa Wesley & Andrew Blackwood, Growild Nursery
Henry White, Trevor White Roses
Steve Hipkin, Gwynfor Growers
Helen Warrington, Ty Cym Nursery
Nick Mann, Habitat Aid
Roisin Taylor, Verde Flower Co.
Rosy and Robert Hardy, Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants
Peter Manfield, Village Nurseries
Harriet Thompson, Harriet’s Plants
Vitacress Ltd
Sarah Wild, Heeley City Farm
Anna Robinson, Water Garden Plants
Jonathan Hogarth, Hogarth Hostas
What the Fungus
Mandy Barber, Incredible Vegetables
Individual supporters
Professor Andy Baird, University of Leeds
Beth Otway, Horticulturist and garden writer
Chris Beardshaw, Award-winning garden designer, TV presenter
Chris Packham, TV Broadcaster and Environmental Campaigner
Alys Fowler, Garden writer and former BBC Gardeners’ World presenter
Jake Rayson, Wildlife and food forest garden designer
Professor Dave Goulson, University of Sussex
Becky Searle, Environmental Journalist
Stephanie Hafferty, Organic gardener, writer and consultant
Guy Shrubsole, campaigner and author of The Lost Rainforests of Britain and The Lie of the Land
Leigh Johnstone (aka The Beardy Gardener)
Jack Wallington, Garden designer and writer
Richard Lindsay, University of East London
Supporting organisations
Buglife
Garden Organic
Bumblebee Conservation Trust
Peat Free April
Butterfly Conservation
Plantlife
Campaign for National Parks
Royal Horticultural Society
The Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM)
CPRE, the countryside charity
Sizzle
Soil Association
Stop Climate Chaos Scotland
Decarbonize Ltd
Sustain Alliance
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation
The National Trust
Food Matters International Ltd
The Wildlife Trusts
For Peat’s Sake
Wildlife & Countryside Link
Friends of the Earth
