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UK: Monty Don slams garden centres for ‘actively choosing to do harm’ by selling compost made from peat

Broadcaster Monty Don.

Britain’s peat bogs also locked in 5.5billion tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere when they were formed

By Sabi Phagura
Mailonline
Oct 23, 2020

Excerpt:

Monty Don has blasted garden centres for ‘actively choosing to do harm’ by selling compost made from peat.

The broadcaster and writer has also urged gardeners to stop buying mass-produced disposable pot plants which are often grown in peat.

He said it was time they stopped ‘sticking their head in the sand’ and make climate change a priority over profits and convenience.

Thriving in mild climates, peat is an extremely fertile growing medium which is used in a wide variety of plants and has allowed the gardening industry to boom but not without cost.

But it is running out quickly – which is bad news for rare and endagnered species that call peat bogs their home.

Raising his concerns about the the threat posed by climate change and deforestation, Don wrote in his Gardeners’ World magazine column: ‘If you don’t care about this you are sticking your head in the sand, not least because it will affect the quality of life for your children and grandchildren.’

Read the complete article here.