It's neither necessary nor evil. IMO, shredded leaves are better.

If I had an extra bail of peat- I would save it for seed starting next year.

I'm with pablo on this one.

To break up clay soil or to lighten a very heavy soil, peat can't be beat. (Hey, that rhymes!)

But I would say a lasagne bed properly made will be quite loose. There's not really a need to add it, but it won't hurt it either.

Thanks for the input! I will use it as a happily found item, like I would think of a 5 gallon bucket of veggie peelings or coffee grinds. I will maybe sprinkle on a layer, but not use a lot or worry about it.

More lasagna questions coming, sorry but as a novice I must ask!

Emmie

g'day emmie,

peat is not needed in any shape or form, it has no real value that can't be more easily replicated by sourcing other composted organic matter.

we've never used it in our gardens and they thrive, see our pics and story on our pages. our preffered medium or addition is mushroom compost from the mushroom farms, but ther are other options ie.,. most garbage dumps now recycle all organic amtter and in some communities the local gov' provides this free for it's rate payers, others charge. but that would be infinately better than peat in any shape or form.

len

Here is a link that might be useful: len's garden page

"Peat moss, in all of its forms, is a non renewable resource, something even the Royal Horticultural Society recognozes"

...of peat from the UK. Don't buy peat in the UK.

manoman- do you ever get tired of the misrepresentation?

It doesnt matter where the peat comes from, peat bogs are carbon sinks and harvesting peat releases it into the atmosphere, certainly not something we should be encouraging in light of the climate change situation? we need those peat bogs to be absorbing carbon not releasing it, so peat moss use is not environmentally sound, no matter how much or little of it there is, and there are plenty of better sources of organic matter than peat.

Thanks again, everyone.

I don't purchase peat moss because I am concerned about the environmental effects of harvesting it. I don't know much about the subject, frankly, but I have heard enough to make me wonder. I'm glad to understand it isn't necessary for lasagna beds, because that would be disappointing! I will use some now, and save the rest of seed starts next year, etc. When this gigantic 5 gallon tub is finally empty, that will probably be the last for me. Goodness knows I ahve plenty of leaves in my yard every fall, so I should have no problem using them as an alternative!

Thanks again,
Emmie

I am all for global warming if it really exists, since I will be able to grow more subtropical plants in my USDA zone. The apparent warming is the result of the fact we are still recovering from the last ice age. Volcanos release more greenhouse gasses than we ever could and the Ocean's phytoplankton absorbs most of all of it from all sources. And on the subject of peat, here in Virginia, almost every "big box" garden center likes to push peat, not realizing it is the worst choice for our red clay soil. It is hard to get wet and when it does get wet, it makes things soggy in clay, plus it adds very little in the way of nutrients. Peat works best in sandy soil where water retention is needed. In clay or loamy soil, shredded leaves, compost or leaf mold is much, much better.

Peat is not needed. I used 3 bales of straw, 30 bags of fall leaves, and free aged horse manure that someone kindly gave to me. Just make sure you run over the leaves/straw with a lawn mower or throw it in a mulcher.

"I am all for global warming if it really exists, since I will be able to grow more subtropical plants in my USDA zone."

so the planet can go to hell as long as you can grow more tropicals, nice sentiment. well, a good dose of endless drought will wake you up

Global Warming is not the disaster that Al Gore and everyone who is into creating a crisis for getting scientific grants. Global Warming is a cycle the Earth has experienced before and will again. I am not going to get in a tizzy over a non-existant crisis. The so called proof is dubious at best and oh yes, 30 years ago we were supposed to be worried about another ice age.....please! I would like it to be warmer, mining peat or not and if I can grow more tender things it is a bonus. We had a very bad drought here in 1999 and it wasn't a earth shaking disaster. I am not worried about this invented crisis at all. BTW Virginia is much less likely to have a significant drought than many other parts of the World because of the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic and warm air off the Gulf of Mexico creating storms and hurricanes that dump everything from drenching rain to several inches of snow in any given year. Please keep the tree hugger sentiment to a minimum....global warming is a policial myth!

Substituting composted straw and leaves for peat is an excellent idea, good for the environment, but putting the straw and leaves through a fossil fuel powered carbon releasing shredder or lawn mower first kind of cancels the benefit, does it not?

paul- exactly. Even if peat is renewable- having it trucked to you burns fuel. Producing straw burns fuel. Picking it up or shredding it burns fuel.

Since it takes so long for peat to decompose- it releases C slower than other compostables- you just need to balance its production and growth rate vs. its decomp rate to acheive carbon neutrality.

If you want to truly offset C levels in the air then you need to harvest carbon and find a sink for it. Cut down a bunch of trees (with a hand axe), dig a big hole (with a shovel) and bury them several meters down. Replant. Repeat.

Lemme know how that works out for you :)

virginian, it doesnt matter whether you believe in it or not, it's not dependent on you believing in it. and the science does not support the things you say. If you doubt global warming, move down to australia for a while and see whats going on in other parts of the world. It has nothing to do with tree hugging. the worlds scientists agree it is happening, the UN agrees, and even leaders like your own and mine admit it in spite of the fact that economically it is something they would rather deny, think about why that is.

I honestly dont care if you believe in it or not, but Ive seen whats going on where I live, (and australia was expected to be one of the first countries to notice dramatic changes because of its location), so far a 7 year drought and winter temps getting warmer each year, but its nice to know you think the whole thing is great, but I dont

Im not going to get into a debate about whether global warming is or isnt happening and this isnt the forum for it, my comment was that peat bogs serve an important function as carbon sinks, and nature knows exactly whats its doing and they are there for a reason, some of which we probably dont even understand yet.

The world is getting warmer. There's little doubt.

Is it man's fault? How long will the trend last? Will polar melting introduce cold water that changes or even reverses the effect?

All questions for discussion. DISCUSSION.

I can't say for sure if global warming is a myth or not, but if it's true I'm all for it.

It would be great to finally get some of those nice temperatures and long growing seasons that places like Australia have been getting all this time. I'd love to try some new things like sweet potatoes, etc. Maybe have tomatoes and peppers started outdoors. Winter gardening for things like spinach. The season isn't long enough for that aroound here.

Gardening in Canada sucks at times.

To those who don't do X because of global warming:

That's great.

However you need to realize there is nothing YOU can do that doesn't involve polluting in some way. If you use electricity you are polluting. If you produce waste, you are polluting. If you drive a car, your polluting. If you buy gas, you are polluting by supporting petroleum companies. If you buy groceries from the store, you are contributing to pollution via product transportation. If you exhale you are polluting. Lastly my favorite, if you are using more than one square of toilet paper per sitting, you are murdering vasts amounts of trees.

Now I'm all for conserving and taking care of the Earth. I love nature (obviously otherwise I wouldn't be here at this forum). The point is, unless your living as a nomad in a forest somewhere you really aren't going to help the pollution problem. What needs to be done is pressuring our governments to invest in and use renewable and waste free resources. Until then bickering about using a gas lawn mower to mulch leaves does nothing. Telling people to use one square of toilet paper does nothing, the trees are already chopped and refined into toilet paper in the shelves of grocery stores. None of this stuff will change until fossil fuels and non-renewable resources are banned and discontinued.

I don't shred leaves, and nothing bad has happened yet. Just let the bed sit for a bit, so that the leaves can break down. IALBTC (It All Leads Back To Compost), after all.

Thanks for all the peat discussion. I am unfamiliar with peat (in Montana USA) and was looking for some info because I, too, did not want to buy a bunch of peat moss for my first lasagna garden. I do have clay soil - actually seems more clay than soil, but I’m sure i can find a more sustainable amendment. Thanks again.