Tips from peat-free champions at RHS Shows 

Exhibitors at RHS Shows have put together advice that is tailored to their specialist plant groups and is intended to help gardeners successfully grow these plants on at home. Look out for signage from these peat-free champions, covering these and many more tips across all RHS Shows.

Choosing compost

David Austin Roses – “Source your

Can refer to either home-made garden compost or seed/potting compost: • Garden compost is a soil improver made from decomposed plant waste, usually in a compost bin or heap. It is added to soil to improve its fertility, structure and water-holding capacity. Seed or potting composts are used for growing seedlings or plants in containers - a wide range of commercially produced peat-free composts are available, made from a mix of various ingredients, such as loam, composted bark, coir and sand, although you can mix your own.

Perennials are plants that live for multiple years. They come in all shapes and sizes and fill our gardens with colourful flowers and ornamental foliage. Many are hardy and can survive outdoors all year round, while less hardy types need protection over winter. The term herbaceous perennial is used to describe long-lived plants without a permanent woody structure (they die back to ground level each autumn), distinguishing them from trees, shrubs and sub-shrubs.

perennial

David Austin Roses at RHS Hampton

Hare Spring Cottage Plants nursery beds

Watering 

Pelham Plants – “Make sure not to overwater young perennial plants. The surface may appear dry, but water may be lower down, so lift the pot to check weight before watering. You might need to increase the drainage for plants sensitive to overwatering. We add up to one third by volume of fine

Bark is the outermost layer of woody plants (trees, shrubs and woody climbers). It is several cells thick and provides protection against physical damage, disease and environmental stresses. Bark comes in a wide variety of colours and patterns, and these can help gardeners when identifying plants. The fissures and crevices of bark on older plants also creates valuable habitat for many garden creatures as well as lichens and small plants.

A cane is a slender, straight, length of woody plant material, usually bamboo. Canes are primarily used as plant supports. The fruiting stems of blackberries, raspberries and hybrid berries (such as loganberries and tayberries) are also known as canes, so these crops are often referred to as cane fruit.

cane

Guernsey Clematis display at RHS Chelsea

Feeding 

British Cosmos – “Once flowering, a

A potassium-rich liquid feed to encourage flowering and fruiting in various plants, not just tomatoes. Take care to follow the instructions on the packet.

To grow well, plants need a wide range of nutrients in various amounts, depending on the individual plant and its stage of growth. The three key nutrients usually taken up from the soil are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Plants also need carbon, oxygen and hydrogen to make carbohydrates — their main energy source. Carbon and oxygen come from the air as carbon dioxide, while hydrogen is drawn from water absorbed by the roots. Other important soil nutrients include magnesium, calcium and sulphur. Most garden soils contain enough of these nutrients to support healthy plant growth.

nutrients

Hogarth Hostas display at RHS Chelsea

British Cosmos exhibit at RHS Chelsea

Other tips  

Gardeners Delight Nursery – “We use a top dressing of bark or grit to retain water and reduce weed growth. An added benefit of a good bark layer is that it also reduces pests such as vine weevil from laying eggs, as they dislike its dryness.” 

Guernsey Clematis – “Overwintering clematis in peat-free compost is very good due to its free-draining properties. If you can move your container to an area that has less rain, under eaves or a covered area, clematis will overwinter better, as wet winter soil is the biggest killer of clematis.”

Caley Brothers – “Choose alternative mushroom varieties, which mean you can avoid peat altogether. Traditionally, classic shop-bought varieties such as button, chestnut and portobello mushrooms are grown using peat as a casing layer. However, many other delicious varieties offer a wider range of flavours and textures and are grown entirely on peat-free substrates. You can grow a wide variety of oyster mushrooms at home, all year round, either indoors or outdoors – none of which require peat-based composts to flourish.” 

“Once you’ve harvested your mushrooms, use old substrate to support your garden. The spent mushroom substrate can be reused as a nutrient-rich

Mulch is a layer of material, at least 5cm (2in) thick, applied to the soil surface in late autumn to late winter (Nov-Feb). It is used to provide frost protection, improve plant growth by adding nutrients or increasing organic matter content, reducing water loss from the soil, for decorative purposes and suppressing weeds. Examples include well-rotted garden compost and manure, chipped bark, gravel, grit and slate chippings.

Caley Bros display at RHS Chelsea

Gardeners Delight Nursery at RHS Malvern