Brian Minter: Uncovering the myths round peat moss

Article content material

Within the present world of horticulture, whether or not it’s giant business productions or small house container gardens, there’s a notion that we shouldn’t be utilizing peat moss as a rising media.

Article content material

We hear issues like there’s a restricted provide, and it’s not sustainable. We’re additionally led to imagine that peat harvesting is destroying habitat which can’t be replenished.

In fact, all pure sources ought to be utilized in a sustainable method. ‘Much less is extra’ is the operative time period upon which we have to focus. We additionally want to pay attention to the environmental impression of all of the merchandise we use. In Canada, peat harvesting is extremely regulated and really strict environmental rules should be adopted.

I not too long ago listened to a webinar offered by Susan Dad or mum, a biologist primarily based in Montreal. She is employed by Premier Tech, considered one of Canada’s main producers of garden and backyard merchandise. This firm is sort of 100 years previous and has been, together with different companies, harvesting peat moss for 90 of these years. I additionally spoke together with her to get additional clarification on some essential associated points.

Article content material

I understand that her perspective is predicated on her firm’s harvesting and gross sales of peat moss, however she offered some priceless insights and statistics on the state of peat in Canada.

In keeping with Dad or mum, Canada has, by far, the most important variety of peat bogs on the earth. In these bogs, the pure accumulation of recent peat is within the vary of 20 million tons every year. Of this quantity, 1.38 million tons of peat is harvested yearly. Canada’s peat bogs symbolize 113.6 million hectares, of which solely 0.03 per cent has been harvested for horticultural makes use of.

Of this whole space, the approximate breakdown of utilization is as follows:

• 81 per cent stays virgin websites;

• Agriculture makes use of 15 per cent;

• City improvement encroaches on 0.8 per cent;

Article content material

• Reservoirs take up 0.8 per cent;

• Miscellaneous improvement accounts for 0.71 per cent;

• Ports use 0.3 per cent; forestry 0.02 per cent; and harvesting 0.03 per cent.

Dad or mum identified that peat offers three important parts for vegetation. It retains water as much as 20 instances its weight; it has nice nutrient retention; and mockingly, it additionally offers pure aeration and porosity to enhance drainage.

Peat is pest and weed free and is accepted for natural manufacturing. It combines effectively with different supplies, like coco coir, sawdust, bark mulch, rice hulls and processed natural matter. Relying on the crop, supplies, like pumice, perlite and sand, are added to peat to each fulfill the crop’s necessities and to make use of much less peat.

Article content material

Elevated high-density meals manufacturing shall be important to supply extra meals for an ever-increasing world inhabitants. Rising media of every type shall be required in larger portions, and peat is simply a type of choices. Dad or mum identified that meals safety shall be an essential situation with regards to the usage of peat moss.

I requested her in regards to the long-term sustainability of our Canadian peat bogs. She could be very happy with the truth that the peat moss business didn’t await the federal government to supply regulation, however reasonably the business developed and managed its personal sustainability packages.

As I discussed earlier, of the roughly 114 million hectares of peat bogs in Canada, solely 32,000 hectares have been harvested. That is, in line with Dad or mum, 1/6000th or 0.03 per cent of the useful resource. Over the subsequent few years, 18,000 hectares are slated to be harvested. Harvesting has ceased on 4,200 hectares, and since 2017, 4,800 hectares have both been restored or are within the technique of being restored.

Article content material

It was very attention-grabbing to be taught that when peat is harvested by a vacuum technique, it may be carried out solely in summer time when the peat is dry. So, harvesting takes place over a 30-to-40-day interval. If the climate is wet or windy, harvesting should cease. If there’s a peat moss scarcity, it’s due to fewer harvest days. To make sure that the bogs could be restored, harvesters take away peat solely to a depth of two to a few toes.

Restitution, she mentioned, is a multi-step course of. First, they need to degree the world after which increase the water desk to its authentic peak. Subsequent, they replant with styles of low-growing sphagnums and different indigenous vegetation, like native blueberries and rhododendrons. Lastly, they shield the brand new plantings with mulch and hay to help new development.

Article content material

From an environmental standpoint, peat bogs sequester a substantial amount of carbon, and I used to be curious to know the way lengthy it takes for a restored lavatory to behave as a carbon sink. Dad or mum mentioned it takes about six years for the regrowth to deliver the lavatory again to its productive state and for carbon sequestering to start.

Veriflora, a U.S. primarily based, not-for-profit environmental certification entity, constantly checks all of the harvesting and restoration actions to make sure they’re conforming to environmental finest practices.

I requested Dad or mum for her evaluation of the present demand for peat. Is it secure or growing?

“The demand is at all times robust,” she mentioned, “however from my perspective, there’s a modest improve in gross sales. A lot relies on the quantity that may be harvested in a restricted time-frame.”

On such an essential topic, it’s good to get some perception on the sustainability of this distinctive pure useful resource. It is usually reassuring to know that utilizing peat moss carefully, by itself or in soilless mixes, is an ethically and environmentally accountable observe. So too is working again into our gardens and compost any used soils, faraway from patio pots and raised beds, that comprise peat moss.