2 x Bags of Dalefoot Wool Compost peat-Free, Sustainable: 30 litres

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In simple terms, mulching helps to provide a light barrier to seeds, which can suppress some weeds. A deeper mulch will do a more thorough job where this is concerned. Of course, nothing will stop some weeds, but mulching will help. Peat sales to gardeners in England and Wales are due to be banned by 2024. High-profile gardeners such as Monty Don have spoken out against the use of Peat in horticulture and initiatives like the Peat Free April movement have gained staggering momentum. For many years we have been told about peat’s importance in the horticultural industry, but only now are we beginning to shout about its importance in the natural world. Many people know that extracting peat isn’t good for the environment, but not as many know why. As we step into February (already I hear you say!) spring is most definitely in the air….. snowdrops are beginning to appear, an exciting reminder that warmer weather and longer days are fast approaching. These delicate white flowers are usually the first sign of life in our gardens and a welcome sight after months of short, dark days! The joy of planning, preparing and organising our gardens for the season ahead is an exciting part of February.

When choosing a compost consider where the original material has come from. Peat is a very unsustainable product that we extract and use at a much faster rate than it can rebuild. Furthermore, destroying peat bogs for our own use seems wholly unwise given the host of incredible natural services that peat can do for us when left in its natural environment. Whilst nature may look as though it is slumbering, gardens are still bustling with wildlife searching for food. During my childhood it was very much the trend to “put the garden to bed for winter”, ripping out all of the habitat nature so needs for its survival in our garden. Thankfully keen gardeners now embrace more nature friendly methods, which reap benefits for us too because increased biodiversity in our plots means healthier plants and fewer pest problems. If the weather takes a turn for the worse, retreat to the shed and carry out maintenance on your gardening equipment. Whether it’s cleaning and sharpening hand tools, or giving the lawn mower a service, and draining off the fuel, before storing it away for winter. Clean and tidy both shed and greenhouse, then wash and store away pots and trays and sweep floors. Not only are you making these areas spring ready, but you’re preventing the build-up of possible pests and diseases.This Peat Free April, award-winning, environmental journalist and co-author of The Climate Change Garden book, Kim Stoddart gets excited about some of the tips and topics she will be sharing with us over the months ahead: Connection and collaboration with the natural world and others around us is absolutely key for the future. We are living through such stressful times and many people are struggling, so the more we can reach out locally, the better we will feel and the stronger we will be. They often contain a different mix of ingredients to those found in multipurpose composts. These include small amounts of sand, grit or vermiculite in seed and potting composts, bark in orchid compost and mostly gravel and sand in cacti composts.

Berries such as cotoneaster, holly and ivy, windfall fruit and seeds including teasels and sunflower heads provide much needed nutrition for many creatures. Teasels are a personal favourite, attracting gold finches throughout the winter months. Once established these striking plants will self seed freely (fortunately they are easy to weed out if they start self seeding too freely!) tbsp seasonal herbs (optional): dill, parsley, thyme, coriander, chopped garlic, herb seeds (fennel, coriander, dill)

Juliet is Dalefoot's very own poet, what better time to introduce her than on World Poetry Day? Juliet has worked part-time at Dalefoot Composts for six years. She is also undertaking an MA in writing poetry at Newcastle University; she draws on the Cumbrian landscape and everyday experience in her work. Her poem “Composting the Thesaurus” was published in OWP Magazine. ‘This poem is particularly satisfying’, Juliet says, ‘as it combines both compost and poetry!’ She adds, ‘I’ve often been asked if the poem is based on truth. A few details might be elaborated, but we really did compost our old thesaurus!' To make the beds, I cut the lawn on a low setting and rakeds the clippings, adding those to the compost heap. Peat is a rich, dark type of soil that is made mostly of plant matter that has been decomposed under waterlogged conditions. It is incredibly rich in carbon but very low in nutrients. It has excellent water-retentive properties and a nice crumbly texture making it an apparently desirable commodity for gardeners. Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do when making our range of peat-free composts and with our peatland restoration work. Our sustainability credentials have been recognised in the following awards: We gardeners are generally quite conscientious. There are numerous schemes to plant more trees, often getting gardeners involved to grow more too. This is all very well, but if we continue to use peat in our gardens, we can’t possibly hope to offset our carbon footprint.

Claimed to be suitable for germinating seeds, small seedlings and plants in patio containers, it's a good general compost, but our tests show that not all are great for all jobs. Look carefully at our results table to find one that is good for all your garden tasks. If you can’t get enough compost to mulch the whole of the bed now, concentrate on spreading a little around the plant stems to protect that area. We test compost for three different tasks; sowing seeds, raising young plants and for use in containers.All three tests are carried out by an expert at a horticultural institute, and the compost for seeds and young plants test takes place in a temperature and humidity-controlled greenhouse. The composts for containers are tested outside once the nights are frost-free. The results are compiled by an independent assessor who's an expert in compost and plant health. Comfrey now being grown sustainably at Dalefoot farm as company scales up peat-free compost production to supply many more garden centres and nurseries across the UK, plus online for home delivery No dig also reduces weeds because you’re not bringing up annual weed seeds by digging. It doesn’t mean no weeds, you still need to hoe and trowel out any weeds that blow on and germinate, but there are significantly fewer. It’s important too to ensure that weeds don’t try to sneak in from grassy paths and edges. I have creeping buttercups here in my garden which keep trying to colonise the veg beds by stealth so I regularly weed the edges.

The great news for the environment is that the UK government plans to ban peat use among amateur gardeners by 2024 as part of its strategy to protect peatlands. Our farm’s bees, insects and wildlife are also benefitting from the biodiversity boost the new comfrey fields and their nectar-rich flowers bring to the local environment.” Seed heads left in situ will also provide food for birds - the more the merrier. Birds also further benefit from feeding and the provision of water over winter. Peat really is a wonderful resource for us and our environment. Peat is an incredibly unique and diverse habitat, playing home to many specialist species that cannot exist elsewhere. It is also a powerful water filter and a huge carbon sink. Once we are aware of all the amazing natural services that peat provides, we are sure to see it as more valuable in the ground, than in our gardens.

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After cropping all winter, I am now planting it out again. It’s amazing to think this was weedy grass not very long ago. In August 2021 the polytunnel was put up here and I mulched it in exactly the same way. Watch out for reformulated compost - manufacturers frequently change the mix of ingredients they use and the fertiliser, and this is speeding up as the ban on using peat comes ever closer. We can't recommend reformulated brands because there's no guarantee the new product will perform as well as the one we tested. Always use the images above to make sure the Best Buy compost you are buying is the one we have tested. Too wet? Mulch! Too dry? Mulch! Not enough nutrients? Mulch! Is Mulching really the answer to so many gardening problems? In many ways it is… lets take a look at how mulching improves our soil, and feeds our plants and reduces weeds. So this December as we nudge that bit closer to Christmas, I urge some little acts of homemade giving and kindness in your local community with items that many of us gardeners will most likely already have to hand. Be it friends, family, neighbours or complete strangers, the cost will be near priceless with a feel good factor guaranteed.