Category Archives: nature & the natural world

How Gardeners and a Top Compost-maker are Teaming up to Bring Professional-quality SylvaGrow Peat-free Compost Into More Garden Centres, Plant Nurseries, Shops and Other Horticultural Suppliers

Why didn’t we think of it sooner? The makers of SylvaGrow professional-quality peat-free compost – which has bagged no less than three Which? Gardening Best Buy awards, and carries the endorsement of the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) – have just … Continue reading

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Modern Peat-free Composts March on: RHS-Endorsed SylvaGrow Bags a Which? Gardening Best Buy Gong for Container Gardening – for the Second Year in a Row

Just when you thought modern and reliable peat-free composts couldn’t get any better – and there are a clutch of good ones out there – SylvaGrow, a professional grade (as used by professionals…) peat-free, environmentally sustainable, all-purpose compost, has has just been awarded another … Continue reading

Posted in blog, climate- & earth-friendly gardening, container gardening, environment, ethics, garden centres & gardening industry, garden compost, garden compost & composting, nature & the natural world, organic gardening, peat & peat-free compost, tv gardening & celebrities | Leave a comment

Inclusive, Persuasive and Gently Powerful – How the #Peatfree Hashtag is Changing Gardening and Horticulture for Good

One symbol, the hash sign (that’s one of these #) grafted onto the words ‘peat’ and ‘free’ (as in ‘#peatfree’) is giving all gardeners confidence in forgoing peat use – by slaying tired old myths about whether our garden plants … Continue reading

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Is Gardening Really ‘Green’?

Exploring the reality behind gardening’s widely touted but increasingly unconvincing claim that ‘gardening is green!’ By John Walker. First published in The Garden, magazine of the Royal Horticultural Society, December 2015 Writing about gardening is a solitary game. But using the pen to place gardening … Continue reading

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How to Succeed in Your Garden With Modern, Reliable and Nature-friendly Peat-free Sowing and Potting Compost

Gardeners have never had it so good when it comes to nature-friendly, peat-free composts for sowing seeds, potting up plants, filling pots and containers, or for simply improving our garden or allotment soil.  By John Walker. Published in The Telegraph, 11th October 2014. … Continue reading

Posted in allotments, ecological sustainability, environment, ethics, food & kitchen gardening, garden compost & composting, gardening footprint, green gardening, nature & the natural world, organic gardening, peat & peat-free compost, published articles, renewable gardening | 4 Comments

Potting Up Dandelions

If you cultivate an enlightened attitude to wild plants instead of trying to constantly eradicate them, your garden can share in their success. By John Walker. Published on the Hartley Botanic website, 13th August 2014. Put ‘kill dandelions’ into a search … Continue reading

Posted in allotments, climate- & earth-friendly gardening, container gardening, eco gardening, environment, food & kitchen gardening, glyphosate, green gardening, nature & the natural world, organic gardening, published articles, renewable gardening, weeds | 1 Comment

Sustainable Sowing

Instead of giving any more time to the myths about sowing in peat-free composts, put them to the test. You’ll find they do the job as well as peat – without the ecological price-tag. By John Walker. Published on the Hartley … Continue reading

Posted in carbon emissions, carbon footprint, climate- & earth-friendly gardening, eco gardening, ecological sustainability, environment, ethics, garden centres & gardening industry, garden compost, green gardening, greenwash, media, nature & the natural world, organic gardening, peat & peat-free compost, published articles, renewable gardening | Leave a comment

Added Values

The way we garden reveals a lot about our outlook on the world. It comes down to whether we feel gratitude to planet Earth – or think it owes us. By John Walker. Published on the Hartley Botanic website, 19th … Continue reading

Posted in allotments, climate- & earth-friendly gardening, eco gardening, environment, ethics, garden centres & gardening industry, garden compost & composting, green gardening, media, nature & the natural world, organic gardening, peat & peat-free compost, published articles, renewable gardening | Leave a comment

Snowball Effect

Some of the drivers behind the peat-free roll-out are surprising and not all are admirable – but that doesn’t detract from the benefits to the gardener and the natural world. By John Walker. Published on the Hartley Botanic website, 7th October 2013 There’s a … Continue reading

Posted in allotments, carbon footprint, climate change & global warming, climate- & earth-friendly gardening, eco gardening, environment, ethics, fossil fuels, garden centres & gardening industry, garden compost, green gardening, greenwash, media, nature & the natural world, organic gardening, peat & peat-free compost, published articles, renewable gardening | Leave a comment

Planet-friendly Pest Busting

Simple solutions guided and powered by nature lie at the heart of my eco-friendly approach to pest control. In this 4-page article republished courtesy of Grow It! magazine (July 2013), I explain how my lazy way of keeping plant pests in check is simple, … Continue reading

Posted in allotments, climate- & earth-friendly gardening, eco gardening, ecological footprints, ecological sustainability, environment, food & kitchen gardening, green gardening, nature & the natural world, organic gardening, pesticides in the garden, published articles, renewable gardening | Leave a comment