How an unprecedented year unfolded
■ January
THE year started on an environmental note with Garden Organic launching the For Peat’s Sake campaign to encourage wider sales of peat-free compost.
Spokeswoman Sarah Brown said: “We are asking people to always buy peat-free compost and if their garden centre doesn’t stock it, to ask why not.
“We know there are many peat alternatives that are out there that are as good as peat-based composts, and some of them perform even better. So always ask.”
This announcement was echoed by Irish compost manufacturers Bord na Mona, who announced the arrival of their first peat-free line, called Happy compost.
■ February
FEARS were raised about the arrival in the UK of a deadly plant disease called Xylella fastidiosa, which has already killed millions of olive trees in Southern Europe.
The disease, which
