Our first calendar year of peat-free: What have we learned?
Reflecting on our peat-free journey
In 2024, Greenwood completed its first full calendar year growing with 100% peat-free media. It has been a fascinating and challenging journey reach this target. We set out to make this ambitious change following an assessment of our carbon footprint, which revealed that peat-based compost was responsible for a staggering 80% of our total carbon emissions for 2021. Our extensive trials commenced the following May, which involved planting a range of different species in peat-free growing media, and closely monitoring their growth. As peat-free growing media comes with additional challenges, such as different feeding and irrigation regimes, peat-free plants should be watched closely to check they are receiving the right volume and frequency of nutrients and water.
In June 2022, we held an open day to share our knowledge on how the horticulture industry can be more sustainable, and encourage stakeholders in the industry to move away from peat. In the following September, we were awarded ‘Sustainable Business of the Year’ at the Central South Business Awards, in recognition of our pioneering sustainability practices across the business. As we reached the end of the year, we were potting 1 in 4 plants in peat-free growing media.
We continued our extensive peat-free trials throughout 2023, and made excellent progress, as by May, three out of our six nurseries were growing peat-free. Towards the end of the year, we were awarded ‘Peat Free Grower’ at the Horticultural Trades Association Grower of the Year Awards, and we hit the exciting milestone of growing 100% peat-free before the end of the year. Following this achievement, in early 2024 we won three awards, including overall ‘International Grower of the Year’ at the annual AIPH awards, held at the IPM Essen in Germany. We have now hit another milestone, having completed our first full calendar year of growing fully peat-free.
So, why did we set out to eradicate peat from our nurseries? Peat is partially composed organic matter and a fantastic growing medium, but it takes a significantly long time to grow, and is a finite resource. It takes around 1,000 years to form 1m of peat, and its annual commercial extraction removes a staggering five hundred years’ worth of growth.
Peat is extracted from carbon-rich peatlands, which sequester around 33% of our global CO₂. The extraction of peat from peatlands emits significant levels of CO₂ into the atmosphere. This, in turn, has an adverse effect on greenhouse gas levels. This is why it’s vital for us to use alternatives to peat. Find out more about the problem with peat by reading our blog.
We have learned a great deal on our journey to peat-free growing. Many factors and routines we had in place needed to be adapted for successful peat-free growing, and there was a lot of trial and error involved along the way. It was not without its difficulties; we suffered many failures, particularly at the beginning of the journey, when our knowledge was limited, and we required many rounds of trial and error before we learned the best methods and conditions to grow each plant.
May 2022
Trials started
June 2022
Held open day
September 2022
Awarded ‘Sustainable Business of the Year’ at the 2022 Central South Business Awards
Dec 2022
Potting one in four plants in peat-free
May 2023
Three in six nurseries growing peat-free
November 2023
Growing 100% peat-free
Jan 2024
Won three awards, including ‘International Grower of the Year’ at the annual AIPH awards, in Germany
Jan 2025
One calendar year of peat-free growing
Every plant is different
We faced many challenges in order to find the right solution for each plant on our nurseries. Whilst many plants take to peat-free media without concern, particular plants were adapted various times to find the mix that worked, and the perfect conditions to thrive. An example was Lavandula; this was a species that was particularly challenging for us when transitioning to peat-free, and required various combinations to find a successful mix.
A big test for us was the plant losses we had to sustain during trial periods, whilst still growing and operating at normal levels. This was an extremely challenging period, and costly, but the end result of being peat-free was well worth the hardship.
Our growing methods have been adapted
One of the main frustrations the team faced was the change in the way in which plants are grown. Many of our team felt as though they had to ‘re-learn’ how to grow key plants, due to the differing ways in which they required to be grown in peat-free compost.
Peat-based soil provides good aeration and retains moisture effectively. As peat-free growing media tends to drain faster, we have had to ensure that our irrigation routines keep the soil at the optimal moisture level. To achieve this, our irrigation has been adapted to provide the same level of water in total, on a more frequent basis.
Our plant feeding routine has also seen changes since moving from peat-based growing media to peat-free, as peat-free plants need to be fed more regularly. They are fed prior to potting, and plant feed is added to the mix used for the potting process. Plants are also fed roughly once a month, whilst in their growing stage, depending on their needs.
The main advantage of using peat-free growing media is environmental, rather than a benefit to plants, as it’s supporting the preservation of peatlands. Growers will see a long term benefit by transitioning to peat-free, as this will reduce their carbon footprint, and provide more opportunity to work with larger companies and organisations who have sustainability objectives to meet. Developing and using peat-free growing media also encourages innovation, whilst improving resource efficiency within the business.
There’s no denying that peat-based growing media is ideal for plant growth, and if it weren’t for the negative environmental impacts associated with harvesting peat, it would be the preferable growing medium. The biggest hurdle of growing peat-free is the transition, and working out the optimal needs for each plant. Once this has been established, it’s no different to caring for any other plant.
Although the process was extremely challenging, because we believe so passionately in being more sustainable, we persevered until we achieved our goal.
Now that we have overcome the challenge of transitioning to peat-free, we are focussing on our supply chain and encouraging them to make this positive change. We will continue to speak to colleagues in the industry and provide support to help them with their own peat-free journey.
For more information on our peat-free growing, head to our sustainability page or get in touch with the G Team.