Call us on 01727 822255
Visit us south of St Albans on the A414
(Sat nav AL2 1DH)

Home Delivery 01727 822255 info@aylettnurseries.co.uk

No products in the cart.

Peat Sourcing & Reduction Policy

It is the policy of the Directors of Aylett Nurseries Limited to ensure that the peat used in UK growing media products causes the minimum environmental impact. To achieve this all bagged growing media is sourced from suppliers who are members of the Growing Media Association (GMA)

Aylett Nurseries Ltd is committed to ongoing improvements in peat reduction. This year our own home grown production will be grown in a 40% reduced peat compost, and we will continue to trial other options reducing our own usage of peat.     

Amateur gardeners use 66 per cent of the total peat used in Horticulture in the UK, most of it in growing media such as multi-purpose compost and growing bags. We continue to source the best peat free growing mediums available and have increased our range to offer ericaceous compost and vegetable planters, in addition to multipurpose and multipurpose plus John Innes options.

Alongside the bags of growing media that we sell, we will :

  • have the associated point of sale clearly marked so the consumer can see the peat content of the product they are purchasing. Look out for our Peat-o-Meter. 
  • provide information so that consumers improve their knowledge of peat alternatives, look out for the Responsible Sourcing logo.
  • ensure that our peat-free and peat reduced products at the same price as peat based mixes.

It is also acknowledged that further evidence is required to demonstrate the environmental credentials of alternative products such as bark, coir, processed wood, composted green material, vermiculite, etc. to ensure that peat replacement brings about genuine  and worthwhile environmental benefits. This comes under the auspices of The Responsible Sourcing Scheme. This is an industry lead scheme to provide a framework that allows manufacturers to rate the environmental impact of all the materials used in growing media against the same 7 criteria for each raw material that make up more that 5% of the product.

The seven criteria are: Energy use, Water use, Social Compliance, Habitat, Pollution, Renewability, and resource use efficiency.

Look out for the logo and QR code on the compost bag so you can see how responsibly sourced a product is. A is the most environmentally and socially responsible on a scale of A to E, or visit responsiblesourcing.org.uk for more information.

Click below to read Our Peat Free Journey so far…