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All RHS Retail to sell only ‘no new peat’ plants from January 2026

The peat-free commitment applies across the five RHS Garden Centres and RHS Plants online, with the Garden Centres aiming to offer the largest range of ‘no new peat’ plants available in the UK

From January 2026, all plants for sale at RHS retail outlets and online will have been grown fully peat-free, or only contain peat already in the production cycle before the end of 2025.

The move comes despite a U-turn on the planned Government ban on retail peat sales, and legislation being stalled*.

With no Government legislation on a peat ban, no official guidance on peat-free definitions and little funding, the UK horticultural industry faces immense challenges as it continues striving to maintain its position as world leader in peat-free horticulture.

Gardeners who care about biodiversity will be able to shop in the knowledge that they are not damaging our precious peat bogs

- Clare Matterson CBE, RHS Director General
The industry is reliant on the 60% of young plants – predominantly ‘peat starter plants’ – brought in from overseas, primarily Holland. With no Government legislation on peat imports, and complex supply chains, many nurseries and plant centres remain dependent on these lines as the UK transitions to peat-free.

Clare Matterson CBE, RHS Director General, says: “Despite the challenges this brings, in terms of sourcing plants that haven’t started life as ‘peat starter plants’, our ambition is to be the UK’s leading supplier of ‘no new peat’ plants, where ‘no new peat’ really means ‘no new peat’.

The Government has not defined what ‘peat-free’ means for consumers, given there is old peat in the supply chain for plants that have been growing for several years. To provide clarity for gardeners wanting to choose the best plants for the planet, the RHS created its own definitions in spring 2025 to help the public make informed choices:

  • No new peat plants – plants grown entirely peat-free, or older plants containing peat that was already in the production cycle before the end of 2025
  • Peat starter plants – plants that started their life in peat (as a plug plant or liner) but have since been grown peat-free
  • Peat plants – grown in peat after 31 December 2025.

“Gardeners who care about enhancing biodiversity in their gardens will be able to shop in the knowledge that they are not damaging our precious peat bogs and know that from next year, no plants that the RHS sells will contain any peat that has been extracted after the end of 2025,” says Clare.

To continue to lobby Government, support industry and gardeners, and see UK horticulture continue to lead the way transitioning to peat free, the RHS calls on everyone to:

1. Help make UK horticulture peat-free

The RHS aims to work with wider charities and call on RHS members, communities, our nation of gardeners and industry to lobby Government for a peat ban, with clarity on a timeline and with packages to support the industry’s transition. The RHS remains committed to investing in peat-free research and continuing to support the industry to transition.

2. Save our precious peat bogs

The RHS is committed to raising awareness of why UK peatlands are vital, storing approximately 3.2 billion tonnes of carbon – making them the largest land-based carbon store in the country. However, around 80 per cent of UK peatlands are damaged – and as a result, they’re leaking around 16.6 million tonnes of greenhouse gases every year.

3. Ensure ‘no new peat’ means ‘no new peat’

With 56 per cent of people not knowing if plants they purchase are grown in peat**, the RHS is challenging consumers to question whether plants for sale are grown without peat or with new peat extracted after 2025.

Clare continues: “Without any Government legislation on banning peat, it’s not a level playing field for growers and plant centres leading the charge and taking risks to be peat-free. We know ourselves that there may be issues around plant supplies and we will need to consider a different retail offering going forward, while still offering our visitors and customers a fantastic choice of varieties of plants for their gardens and outside spaces.

“Ultimately, the more we can all champion growing peat-free plants, and the more growers there are producing peat-free plants, the better for the planet.”

In March 2025, owing to no Government legislation, concessions had to be introduced at RHS Shows*** to support growers in their final stages of transitioning to 100% peat-free up to 2028. The five RHS Gardens at Bridgewater, Wisley, Rosemoor, Hyde Hall and Harlow Carr have been ‘no new peat’ plants since June this year. The RHS has been growing ‘no new peat’ within its own nurseries for the last two years, and has been 98% peat-free for nearly 25 years.

The more growers there are producing peat-free plants, the better for the planet

- Clare Matterson CBE, RHS Director General
In world-leading peat-free trials, the RHS have been working with eight growing media manufacturers and ten commercial nurseries producing around 500 million plants each year

Significant milestones for the UK transitioning to peat-free include:

  • Being one of the first countries to develop a Responsible Sourcing Scheme for growing media
  • Providing a UK knowledge hub, translating the research as quickly as possible for both growers/industry and gardeners
  • Not many countries, if any, have undertaken as much research into trialling peat free growing media with growers and growing media manufacturers as the UK
  • The majority of the industry is growing in peat-reduced potting media that is 50–60 per cent peat-reduced.

Over the last 12 years, the RHS has spent 150,000 hours researching peat-free growing and supporting the industry to transition. The charity has invested £2.5 million into peat-free research, engaged over 850 nurseries in workshops and discussions, provided tailored advice for over 200 retailers, and is undertaking major research projects with growing media manufacturers and ten commercial nurseries who collectively produce around half a billion plants each year.

*In August 2022, the Government announced the ban on sales of retail peat at the end of 2024, and then in March 2023 a further announcement on a peat ban for commercial growers at the end of 2026 with some exemptions (plug material, conservation plants etc). The Government announced in 2011 that unless the industry adhered to a voluntary ban by 2020, legislation would be introduced – hence the legislation proposals. The ban didn’t come into effect at the end of 2024 due to change of government, and the legislation is now stalled. It was never part of the current Government’s manifesto.

**In the RHS 2025 State of Gardening Report, the results of a 2025 YouGov survey indicate that in 2024, around half (51.2%) of the UK’s adult gardeners (21.6 million people) bought compost. Of these, 70% bought peat-free. However, 56% of gardeners who purchased plants said they did not know whether their bought plants were grown using peat. 40% of gardeners made

compost at home.

***In 2021, to galvanise the horticultural industry and its own processes, the RHS pledged to be 100% peat free by the end of 2025, including all plants at RHS Shows. The original RHS peat-free policy in 2021 said that all plants at RHS Shows after the end of 2025 would be 100% no new peat plants, i.e. 100% peat-free plants or older plants potted into peat extracted before 31 December 2025. In March 2025, with no Government legislation, concessions had to be made for 42% of nurseries in its Floral Marquees.

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The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.