Horncastle Garden Centre is praised - for peat’s sake!

Horncastle Garden Centre has been praised by the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust - for stocking some peat-free compost.
Protesters make their point at Horncastle Garden CentreProtesters make their point at Horncastle Garden Centre
Protesters make their point at Horncastle Garden Centre

Some campaigners who took part in a climate change protest in the town’s Market Place last month also staged a ‘peaceful protest’ at the garden centre on Lincoln Road.

Mark Schofield, of the Wildlife Trust, said: “We are here to thank Horncastle Garden Centre for stocking some peat-free compost.

“We acknowledge many options for gardeners have reduced peat but it is imperative producers and gardeners do more to save our climate and the UK’s biodiversity.

“We have to reject peat for our gardens, whether we buy it by the bag or whether it comes with potted plants.”

UK peatlands are a vital store of 3.2 billion tonnes of carbon in the UK,as well as being the source of 70% of all drinking water.

Mr Schofield added: “If they are healthy, peat bogs are the best way to capture and lock up carbon in our soils.

“But 80% are in poor condition and are no longer capturing carbon, instead releasing it back into the atmosphere at the rate of three average UK cities’ emissions.”

The Wildlife Trust is restoring lowland peat bog on the Humber Estuary while in the south of the county, the creation of Willow Tree Fen has doubled the amount of fenland in Lincolnshire since 2010.

Mr Schofield added: “We need to increase the organic matter in our soils so they become a carbon sink and ensure we still have soil to farm in 100 years’ time. “Please read the label on your bag of compost or better still, rot down some leaf mould and grass cuttings yourself - and save money.”