• Contact us
  • About us
  • Digital edition
  • Online archive
Saturday, June 14, 2025
Cumberland and Westmorland Herald
  • News
    Man arrested after fleeing from police in Penrith

    Man arrested after fleeing from police in Penrith

    £37.7 million to tackle potholes and upgrade roads

    £37.7 million to tackle potholes and upgrade roads

    Over £38,000-worth of fake goods seized at Appleby Horse Fair

    Over £38,000-worth of fake goods seized at Appleby Horse Fair

    New bid for Appleby stallion sculpture revealed

    New bid for Appleby stallion sculpture revealed

    18th century Eden pub sold as owners retire

    18th century Eden pub sold as owners retire

    Tebay’s plans for battery storage unit

    Tebay’s plans for battery storage unit

    Pub landlord must remove Covid canopy

    Pub landlord must remove Covid canopy

    Flower fairies of Kirkby Stephen brighten people’s day

    Flower fairies of Kirkby Stephen brighten people’s day

    Special needs campsite set to open in Eden

    Special needs campsite set to open in Eden

  • Sport
    Double national triumph for Stuart Robinson

    Double national triumph for Stuart Robinson

    Patterdale’s Eden Eagles make history

    Patterdale’s Eden Eagles make history

    Penrith teen crowned British vault champion

    Penrith teen crowned British vault champion

    Penrith gymnasts represent North of England in finals

    Penrith gymnasts represent North of England in finals

    New boss revealed for Penrith AFC

    New boss revealed for Penrith AFC

    Penrith Panthers celebrate winning season

    Penrith Panthers celebrate winning season

    Darren Edmondson leaves Penrith AFC

    Darren Edmondson leaves Penrith AFC

    Lucy plays key role in county T20 triumph

    Lucy plays key role in county T20 triumph

    Gold for Keith in annual festival of orienteering

    Gold for Keith in annual festival of orienteering

  • Obituaries
  • Nostalgia
  • Online archive
  • Buy Photos
  • Buy your paper
  • North Lakes Living
No Result
View All Result
Cumberland and Westmorland Herald
  • News
    Man arrested after fleeing from police in Penrith

    Man arrested after fleeing from police in Penrith

    £37.7 million to tackle potholes and upgrade roads

    £37.7 million to tackle potholes and upgrade roads

    Over £38,000-worth of fake goods seized at Appleby Horse Fair

    Over £38,000-worth of fake goods seized at Appleby Horse Fair

    New bid for Appleby stallion sculpture revealed

    New bid for Appleby stallion sculpture revealed

    18th century Eden pub sold as owners retire

    18th century Eden pub sold as owners retire

    Tebay’s plans for battery storage unit

    Tebay’s plans for battery storage unit

    Pub landlord must remove Covid canopy

    Pub landlord must remove Covid canopy

    Flower fairies of Kirkby Stephen brighten people’s day

    Flower fairies of Kirkby Stephen brighten people’s day

    Special needs campsite set to open in Eden

    Special needs campsite set to open in Eden

  • Sport
    Double national triumph for Stuart Robinson

    Double national triumph for Stuart Robinson

    Patterdale’s Eden Eagles make history

    Patterdale’s Eden Eagles make history

    Penrith teen crowned British vault champion

    Penrith teen crowned British vault champion

    Penrith gymnasts represent North of England in finals

    Penrith gymnasts represent North of England in finals

    New boss revealed for Penrith AFC

    New boss revealed for Penrith AFC

    Penrith Panthers celebrate winning season

    Penrith Panthers celebrate winning season

    Darren Edmondson leaves Penrith AFC

    Darren Edmondson leaves Penrith AFC

    Lucy plays key role in county T20 triumph

    Lucy plays key role in county T20 triumph

    Gold for Keith in annual festival of orienteering

    Gold for Keith in annual festival of orienteering

  • Obituaries
  • Nostalgia
  • Online archive
  • Buy Photos
  • Buy your paper
  • North Lakes Living
No Result
View All Result
Cumberland and Westmorland Herald
No Result
View All Result
Home Farm and Countryside

Chelsea Flower Show success for Eden firm

by CWH
25 May 2022
in Farm and Countryside, Latest, News
A A
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Bevis Hughes, of the Eden Project, Simon Bland, of Dalefoot Composts, and Tracey Smith, of Eden Project, with the award

An Eden firm has been awarded a gold medal at the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show for its display highlighting the importance of peatlands to the climate.

Dalefoot Composts, based in Heltondale near Penrith, and the Eden Project used a small piece of Cumbrian peatland on loan under special licence from Natural England in the display at the world-famous RHS event.

In the Discovery Zone display at the world’s most famous flower show, gardeners were invited ‘to step into’  Bolton Fell Moss National Nature Reserve, a restored Cumbrian bog previously used to harvest peat for horticulture, to experience the secrets, sounds and beauty of these enormous bog gardens.

They have been able to hear sounds from a peatland – curlews, lapwing, the hum of billions of insects and the occasional squelch – while getting up close to the fascinating bog plants – sphagnum mosses, cotton grass, cranberries, and heathers.

The peatland display has been given expert care by the Dalefoot team to make sure it remains hydrated and will be returned to its natural home once Chelsea has finished.

The aim of the exhibit is to demonstrate the importance of peat bogs and the environmental damage gardeners are causing to our planet by using peat compost in their outdoor spaces.

Professor Jane Barker is the co-founder of Dalefoot Composts which is a major manufacturer of peat-free compost and a leading restorer of damaged peatlands, including the nature reserve.

She said: “We’re absolutely thrilled by this award and so pleased that peat-free gardening is being recognised in this way. I hope people visiting our special piece of Cumbrian peatland will come away understanding why using peat is no longer acceptable, and how easy it is to make simple climate friendly switches in your garden.”

Alongside the peatland, a potager of vegetables and companion planting grown by gold-medal-winning Pennard Plants, illustrated what gardeners can achieve in their own plot by switching to peat-free gardening. All of the plants have been grown in Dalefoot Compost’s peat-free products which are Soil Association-approved for organic growing.

The timeline of a bog was illustrated in the RHS Chelsea exhibit to show the thousands of years peat represents. Peat grows at only 1mm per year and this is contrasted to the bags of peat compost it yields and the short season of growth that peat gives gardeners.

Peatlands only occupy about three per cent of the Earth’s land surface but are the largest terrestrial carbon store on the planet. UK peatlands cover around 12% of its land area and store 3.2 billion tonnes of carbon, more than twice that of the UK’s forests*, as well as being very important habitats for biodiversity.

Whilst the Government has set targets for peatland restoration and is currently consulting on a peat ‘ban’, in amateur gardening there remains a significant resistance to switching to peat-free and it is predicted even more peat could be used in the future. Of the 5.44 million cubic metres of growing media used in 2020, 79 per cent was used by amateur gardeners.

Two-thirds of peat sold in the UK is from Europe, meaning we are effectively exporting our carbon footprint. Voluntary targets set for peat sellers have had little impact and the new target of ending peat sales by 2024 is being questioned for being too slow and not enough.

This is the latest initiative by Dalefoot Composts and the Eden Project to promote the sustainability benefits of peat-free gardening.

Dalefoot supported six show gardens and exhibits at RHS Chelsea with its peat-free compost – The New Blue Peter Garden: Discover Soil by Juliet Sargeant; Brewin Dolphin Garden by Paul Hervey-Brookes; The Mothers for Mothers – This Too Shall Pass Garden by Pollyanna Wilkinson; The Wild Kitchen Garden by Ann Treneman; RHS Queen’s Jubilee Photographic Exhibit by Dave Green, and the Animal and Plant Health Agency – Don’t Risk It! exhibit.

Two of the company’s peat-free composts were also finalists in the RHS Chelsea Sustainable Garden Product of the Year 2022 – Wool Compost for Potting and Wool Compost Double Strength.

Related Posts

Man arrested after fleeing from police in Penrith
News

Man arrested after fleeing from police in Penrith

13 June 2025
£37.7 million to tackle potholes and upgrade roads
Latest

£37.7 million to tackle potholes and upgrade roads

13 June 2025
Over £38,000-worth of fake goods seized at Appleby Horse Fair
News

Over £38,000-worth of fake goods seized at Appleby Horse Fair

13 June 2025
New bid for Appleby stallion sculpture revealed
News

New bid for Appleby stallion sculpture revealed

13 June 2025
18th century Eden pub sold as owners retire
Food and Drink

18th century Eden pub sold as owners retire

13 June 2025
Tebay’s plans for battery storage unit
News

Tebay’s plans for battery storage unit

13 June 2025
No Result
View All Result

Stay connected

Facebook Twitter Instagram

Most popular

Over £38,000-worth of fake goods seized at Appleby Horse Fair

Over £38,000-worth of fake goods seized at Appleby Horse Fair

13 June 2025
Celebrating 200 years of Nenthead

Celebrating 200 years of Nenthead

13 June 2025
Double national triumph for Stuart Robinson

Double national triumph for Stuart Robinson

13 June 2025
New bid for Appleby stallion sculpture revealed

New bid for Appleby stallion sculpture revealed

13 June 2025
Carbon audit produces positive results for North Sheep host family

Carbon audit produces positive results for North Sheep host family

13 June 2025
Pub landlord must remove Covid canopy

Pub landlord must remove Covid canopy

13 June 2025
Cumberland and Westmorland Herald Logo

33 Middlegate
Penrith
Cumbria
CA11 7SY

Phone: 01768 862313
Email: news@cwherald.com

Registered in England as Barrnon Media Limited. No: 12475190
VAT registration number: 343486488

Explore

  • News
  • Sport
  • Farming
  • Property
  • Obituaries
  • Nostalgia
  • Your view

Useful links

  • Contact us
  • Photosales
  • Online archive
  • Buy your paper
  • Digital edition
  • North Lakes Living
  • Advertise
  • About us

Follow us on

© Barrnon Media Limited 2025

Terms & Conditions / Privacy Policy / Cookie Policy

This website and its associated newspaper are members of the Independent Press Standards Organisation
Review Your Cart
0
Discount
Add Coupon Code
Subtotal
Total Installment Payments
Bundle Discount
Checkout

 
0
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Obituaries
  • Nostalgia
  • Online archive
  • more
    • North Lakes Living
    • Buy Photos
    • Buy your paper
    • About us
    • Contact us

© 2020 Cumberland & Westmorland Herald