The government has now confirmed that the sale of peat composts to amateur gardeners will be banned by 2024.
The ban targets 70 per cent of the peat that is sold in England. Professional horticulture will be exempt for now. RHS research shows that it is not commercial growers but gardeners which use the most peat compost.
In 2021 Defra launched a public consultation on the use of peat, pledging to ban the sale of peat compost and restore depleted peat lands.
Over 5,000 responses were received and most people were in favour of a peat ban.
The government is also putting money from the Nature for Climate Fund into supporting farmers to grow crops on re-wetted land.
Peat bogs can take hundreds of years to reform and are thriving eco-systems. When the peat is dug out from the bogs, the carbon oxidises and adds to the carbon in the atmosphere, which contributes to global warming.
Read our piece from the RHS's Guy Barter on why a ban on peat compost is a good thing
