With my Garden Centre Association (GCA) hat on, I was filming short films about gardening with peat free compost at RHS Wisely last week. Part of the Royal Horticultural Society’s commitment to become completely peat free by 2025, the films are designed to help both amateur and professional gardeners understand how to adapt to and embrace peat free compost. It is an important topic and vital that we know how to overcome any challenges with peat free compost as peat extraction is contributing to climate change and destroys wildlife.

We were filming in the World Food Garden, which is a fascinating vegetable and fruit garden laid out in an ornamental fashion. Rather than planting in the typical block formation, the gardeners at RHS Wisley are moving the plot each year on a four yearly rota to allow for soil rejuvenation and reduce the build up of pest and disease. They are also practicing companion planting, in its finest form, planting predator and pollinator friendly plants to control pests and is resulting in great yield.

It was a great reminder that gardening is and should be a force for good when it comes to people and planet and there are some innovative ways to adapt our gardening practices to be more environmentally friendly.

Mike

Cover image credit: Oliver Dixon