Plastic
free gardening?
Former Castle Drogo head gardener Emma Robertson is aiming to run her new nursery completely plastic free and has advice for those who want to join in her campaign A passion for plants, the love of being outdoors and closer to nature or simply the joy of getting your hands dirty. There are many reasons why gardening is a much-loved pastime. Our back gardens reduce C02 emissions, attract wildlife and create green, quiet havens within a busy modern world. It therefore seems ironic that the horticultural industry is such a huge supplier of single use plastic. Causing pollution during the manufacturing process and then from the throw away culture it is designed for. It is not until you stop and actually look around your own garden that you see just how much plastic has crept into the picture. Labels, pots, seed trays, watering cans, compost bags and garden tools. There are an estimated 500 million plant pots produced every year. After many years working in horticulture, I recently started a new adventure of opening my own plant nursery. Suddenly I had to make decisions about how I grow and sell my plants and was immediately hit with a dilemma. Should I use plastic? Just how easy is it to go plastic free, and what alternatives are out there? I made the decision to start as I mean to go on and launched a plastic free mail order service using only biodegradable packaging and bare root plants. I am now working hard to reduce the amount of plastic I use in all other areas of the nursery and here is a little of what I have learned so far. First and foremost, it is not easy. The horticulture industry as a whole has got a lot of work to do towards plastic reduction. There are some good alternatives on the market. The main 10
Alternatives on trial - Rhizo Pots - fabric pot, Haxnicks - bamboo fibre pot, Jiffy - Coco fibre pot, biodegradable seedling bag, coir pot and wooden plant labels
issue is availability, making it hard for nurseries and garden centres to get hold of large numbers. Countries like India, Thailand, China and America are producing some really interesting products and seem to be so much more advanced then we are in the UK. These products then have to be imported which brings its own carbon footprint and a higher cost. Plastic alternatives on average are at least three times more expensive. This has a big impact for nurseries and growers who need to stay competitive. So why is plastic in our gardens such a problem? The main issue is the lack of recycling Iris sibirica in flower on the nursery available. Many types of council do not include black plastic pots in kerbside collection because the sorting machines cannot detect them. Most of the time after a plant is put in the ground, the pot then sits in a shed before heading off to landfill, along
Country Gardener