The art of gardening requires simulating in your yard what happens naturally in the wild. With domesticated soil and plants, this can be a pretty delicate process – both for your plants and for the environment.
You’ve likely bought bags of soil from hardware stores or retailers who specialize in plants and landscaping. While a bag of dirt seems harmless, like any other commercially available item, mass production can have a negative impact. For example the extraction of peat, which is often used as a soil additive, consumes a natural resource that if left in the wild will fight global warming. Even so, peat is still widely used, probably because most people don’t know it’s a problem. If you are concerned about reducing your garden’s environmental impact, know what peat is, why its use is harmful, and what to use instead.
What is peat
Peat moss is a natural, non-living material that forms in bogs when mosses and plant material decompose in peat bogs. The substance can be harvested and burned as fuel, but is more commonly formed into bricks and pellets that are used to create richer soil for planting new plants. The problem (as with many mass-produced items) is how to obtain the planting aid.
The harvest process actually releases the stored carbon dioxide which get into the air through plant decomposition, deprive the environment of a natural carbon sink and contribute to global warming. It also disrupts the water and animal ecosystem in the area. Plus, Peat is not an easily renewable resource and much is harvested in installments higher than its regrowth. In addition, since it can be used as fuel, it is highly flammable. The Washington Post reports that peat fires account for “5% of human-made carbon emissions”. In short: in nature, peat absorbs carbon dioxide and thus maintains the earth’s homeostasis. Digging up does more harm to the earth than it does to your garden.
What does peat do for your plants?
Although peat is used in many soil mixes, it is not a sufficient option for root growth and often needs to be mixed with the material mixed perlite even to work. Ken Druse with The Garden Rant writes: “Peat moss is … a bad choice. It breaks down too quickly, compresses and pushes air out of the soil, creating an unhealthy condition for the plant roots. ”When peat is added to the soil, it is touted for its ability to retain moisture and provide vital moisture to plants, but the quick one Decomposition rate means that the advantages do not outweigh the disadvantages.
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What to use in your planting soil instead of peat
Peat is sold as a beneficial soil additive to store carbon dioxide and create a beneficial environment for acidic plants. But sawdust or composted bark can also be used to achieve adequate acidity. According to garden know-how, these peat alternatives are low pH and, if locally sourced, can be a choice that is much better suited to your local area – and better for the environment overall. Gardening Know How warns that some sawdust and composted bark suffer from the same problem at harvest and may contain additional chemicals. So if you’re looking for a worry-free, eco-friendly option, they recommend doing your own composting. Composting mimics the fertilization process naturally occurring in the wild and utilizes your food, plant and paper waste.
Another unlikely and overlooked alternative to peat is coconut coconut (the brown, fibrous outer layer of a coconut). In the past, the coarse fibers that were thought to be of no real use were discarded. However, it has been found that the coconut hairs grow plants just as well, if not better, than peat. The garden canal reports coconut contains 30 percent more water than peat and is an environmentally friendly sustainable source. Coconut coconut is also widely sold in home and garden centers.
