A grower at a garden center near Burton has said he will have to stop selling compost using peat when it is banned but at the moment the alternatives are nowhere near as good. And he says he does not use the peat-free alternative compost himself as it is 'not as good as the real stuff.
Bill Tucker, grower at Stanton Nurseries in Stanton, said that the difference between plants that have been grown in peat-free compost and compost with peat is very visible. It comes after calls from the Wildlife Trusts that garden centers should be doing more to stop the sale of peat as it impacts the environment.
Mr. Tucker said: "In the summer, you can tell which ones have been grown in the peat-free and which ones haven't. I've tried both and I am not on with it. Even when it is in the flowerpots it simply does not work as well.
"The problem is that it does not hold the water as well. If it was just as good, we would absolutely be on board with using the peat-free stuff. However, it isn't. I'm honestly not sure how compost can work without peat.
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