LeafGro is good stuff. It’s basically fall leaf pickup for the local suburbs, composted, and bagged. I’ve used it a lot because it’s so easy to find in Maryland.
I used it as the compost third of Mels Mix in my raised beds, and everything did phenomenal!
Just go behind a Grocery store without a locked Dumpster
they throw a bunch of those flimsy plastic milk creates
(Mexican stores do a lot as well as cheap wooden ones.)
You may even find 55 gallon rain barrels in trash or cardboard ones disposed of (free bubble wrap etc.)
(edit missed post of Krismoriah I would not compost using these thin milk creates
they break down in sun, and get plastic all over the yard )
I don’t mix my potting soil according to plants needs?
I mix my potting soil according to peoples needs
More perlite for drainage that guy waters like Crazy!!!
Vermiculite for the Lazy
and just right for Goldie locks !!!
Yep, I don’t think I’ve ever bought more than a bag or so of “potting mix”…I start using something that costs me under $2 a cubic foot and amend according to the stuff I plan on planting. Not scientific as he is…and my results may not be as good. Sometimes “good” is fine, “excellent” being unnecessary and more expensive.
The more tiny the seeds, the more critical it is to have consistent fine particles in the planting soil. AM Leonard has lots of good things for sale.
That’s overall a good article.
I doubt there are options to peat that are more environmentally friendly
(or as good for the purpose).
Burning peat as some do…that’d be a different argument.
Even so, for those that don’t have trees or coal, peat may be a good option for heating homes.
I have a local compost dump that does the same thing… I got two truckloads of it last fall. I also make my own leaf and grass compost. For the sake of experiment i want to see if the common man can grow things in what this is… definately a renewable resource. Leaves and Grass clippings occur in mass quantities everywhere…but it is the least commonly used.
Almost every yard in america grass is chop and drop… and leaves in yards are an eyesore. Both are unwanted trash to the common man.
This spring- I will probably plant some marigolds or zinnias in this ‘waste’ i also want to plant a pot or two in just rotten woodchips. I think it would be neat if it works to never have to fool with potting soil for my annuals.
Im sure it has been done before… but very little talk about it.
Interesting topic and concerns. The sphagnum peat moss here has a very different consistency compared to Irish peat. I think that stuff is more advanced in evolutionary process to be closer to a soft coal. Our bogs here are harvested here now with tractors harrowing the surface a few inches deep over a few acres. That is allowed to dry in the sun similar to a tilled garden. Then large tractor vacuums suck it up and transport to a bagging shed. In my lifetime I cannot tell that anything was removed from these bogs. They have been harvested for a long time and wild trout abound in the pristine waters that flow right past them. The bogs here are so expansive that I doubt if all the horticultural use in the usa would take more than a few inches off the top. Never seen or heard of a bog “cleaned out”. Hyping this kind of a topic is a common tactic of enviro sensationalizing by people who likely have never seen or been to a peat bog. Just like the bees disappearing. Yes there are colony problems brought on about the time different mites arrived here and weakened hives. Thus allowing disease to weaken overwintering hive health. Yes it is a problem but bee keepers have adapted new methods and guess what usa honey production has been increasing. How can that happen? Any of you hypers ever seen a mite? Doubt it so why you ask am I not seeing bees? Simple. You likely live in a place that is part of or close to a city where few bees can live. Few flowers grow on asphalt or concrete. And by the way bees are opportunists and if you have few or no flowers around while you are looking for them you will not see any. So it is easy for hypers to sit back and say neonics are the problem.
I will continue to use peat for gardening and eat some of our countries increasing honey supply. Ah I live in the land of milk and honey where pristine waters and woods have supported my family from the beginning of the usa. Don’t come here since we know you will want to change it to be like what you have.
After this I think I will grab a mason jar of home canned pears or plums for a dinner treat.
We we lived a few counties up, our county also offered the leaf compost. We got a couple truckloads and tilled it into our garden area (sometimes I miss our 3/4 acre lot). I’m pretty sure it had cow manure mixed in, as we could not keep our dog from eating it. But it everything did great in that garden, and we eventually fenced the dog out. That was where I learned that planning a row of okra when you have 2 people in your household, is a bit ambitious 
Perspective from the other side of the Pond:
A British nursery.
(A rare unbiased article on Peat)
If i may add one more Pro Peat topic for discussion that is seldom heard…
Peat …becomes coal.
So in theory if we harvest it now and grow things that ease the effects of our current and past coal burning…there is less peat to turn into coal for future inhabitants of earth to use to further destroy earth.
Harvest peat now = less coal later? = less pollution?
I see your point. But, in the details, it’s not turning out in that manner. Under your theory coal is going to be multiplying, as not nearly as much peat is currently being taken as is being formed.
Despite mankind harvesting a treasure that has been provided, more tons of peat are being deposited through natural processes than are being harvested for all purposes…true last year, this year, and for forseeabl future. Quantities of peat are increasing … despite some harvesting.
(And horticulture is not the biggest user.)
Actually, the most peat acreage is being drained for cropland to support more and more people that eat more than people used to. Drained peat lands soon decay and release their carbon.
Peat in horticulture…garden and forest seedlings…makes more plant seedlings thrive and such can sequester CarbonDioxide.
The genuine science does not bear out that peat used in gardening is bad for the environment…it just doesn’t.
www.sungro.com/about-us/sustainable-peat-moss
This is the story from N. America’s largest producer of peat product.
Most other countries have environmentally friendly production too,
Farming is the culprit of most peat bog destruction (but people like to eat).
@figjamjar thanks for your contribution.
Some of the sensational stories about peat and environmental destruction may sell papers and get clicks, but the reason for this topic (PEAT–parts of the peat moss story seldom heard) is to shed light on the facts that such press releases seldom cover…that peat accumulation/formation is out-stripping harvest by a factor of 10, and is a most useful horticultural product that generally is harvested in a responsible manner.
Peat fires, or peat destruction in 3rd rate countries to produce crops is a separate topic entirely. Peat used in the raising of plants and nursery stock is as responsible as you can get in most cases.
Again, the side that Mother Earth or Public radio isn’t covering is the story that I’m trying to cover.
It was actually refreshing to learn about the topic and witness the cooperation between industry and environmental groups on this topic.
Here is a very informative paper which really does give an outstanding overview of what is a complex issue.
Issuepap2.pdf (883.5 KB)
Too big to post, and I won’t disrespect the authors by summarizing.
LOTS of info there. Thanks for the contribution.
Peat fires are trouble.
But they aren’t related to harvest of peat for gardening purposes.
This topic has had another response…I’ve been invited to be the monthly guest speaker at one of the Central Kentucky garden clubs. (Five papers printed my article on peat.)
I used to use peat based soil-less mixes, but now I just make my own potting soil with locally produced municipal compost, sand and feather meal. I have really enjoyed this mix far more than commercial peat based blends. I don’t seem to run into problems with my mix getting hydrophobic if it gets too dry the way peat becomes hydrophobic.
Good commercial mixes use a wetting agent to overcome this problem. Peat moss alone is difficult to get wet but a good mix shouldn’t be.
Have you compared growth side by side of seedling starts (using something like Osmecote to assure proper nutrition)? Hard to believe your mix works as well for that purpose. I make my own mix for trees but I use half compost to half peat for a lighter better draining product than if I used compost and perlite alone (1/3rd perlite by volume). Sand is too heavy for me when used in 25 gallon pots. For my vegetable and flower starts I always use peat-light, pro-mix type mixtures. I buy my bales from a local greenhouse grower who would certainly make his own mix if it made economic sense by getting plants to grow as well. Hell, he heats his greenhouses with firewood arborists bring him. He has land to make all the compost he needs- landscapers would pay him for the right to dump yard waste.
Many potting mixtures from big box stores are inferior to commercial mixes that tend to come in 3 cubic foot compressed bails- from Canada. .