Nicholas Rigg/Getty Images
READ MORE ABOUT:
Gardeners are familiar with peat, compressed into pots and cake-like pellets for starting seeds indoors or used in bulk as a soil enricher, compost component, or an ingredient in planting mix. But peat harvesting is an industrial-scale mining operation that is rapidly turning ancient peat bogs into one of the planet's most endangered wildlife habitats.
A number of alternatives have emerged, however, as we've become clearer about where peat is needed. We don't, for instance, need peat as mulch, because tree bark, cocoa shells, shredded prunings, straw, and mushroom compost serve the same purpose, without drying out and blowing away, which peat often does. In terms of soil improvement, animal manure, leaf mold, and compost are just as effective, if not better, since peat has little nutrient value.
You can even find peat-free pots made from coir, which comprises fibers derived from the husk and outer shell of coconuts, as well as cow manure-don't worry, it's odor-free-a common agricultural waste.
Difficulty level: Easy
-
- {}
