Evergreen Garden Care, is proud to announce the gift of 31.4 hectares of Peatland to Natural England, as part of its continued commitment to nature conservation.

The land forms part of the Hatfield Moors, which along with Thorne, Goole and Crowle Moors, comprise the Humberhead Peatlands, the largest area of raised bog wilderness in lowland Britain, at 3,000 hectares in size.

Evergreen Garden Care has been working with Natural England over the restoration of a much larger part of Thorne and Hatfield Moors for many years, and the gift of this last 31.4ha means that Natural England will now have complete autonomy over the Peatlands, in order to complete the restoration works.

Why is Peatland important?

Peatlands are a crucial part of the planet’s life support system, quietly working to regulate the climate and preserve biodiversity. However, clearing the land and harvesting peat for use in horticulture and gardening contributes to a major environmental challenge; destroying habitats for wildlife and releasing large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere. In fact Peatlands in a bad condition account for 3.5%* of carbon emissions in the UK.

Extraction of peat from the Moors had previously taken place at scale since the 1800’s. But it became truly commercial in the 1950’s in a post-war economic boom, reflecting the increased disposable income consumers had to spend on garden care.

Evergreen Garden Care ceased peat extraction at Thorne and Hatfield Moors in 2004, and Miracle-Gro, owned by Evergreen Garden Care, went fully peat-free in 2023; developing a highly effective peat-free solution instead.

Benefits of restoring the Peatlands

In the 20 years since Evergreen Garden Care handed over the Peatland it owned to Natural England, there have been profound improvements in the area.

The stores of peat within Hatfield Moors are now starting to replenish, absorbing more carbon and reducing the amount of harmful greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Dense vegetation has also returned to Hatfield Moors, which provides fertile breeding ground for many wildlife, including the rare nightjar. Numbers of nightjars dwindled when peat extraction took place, however numbers of male nightjars in the area are now estimated to have doubled. Cranes and deer have also returned to the area, and numbers of rare insects, such as the Mire Pill Beetle, which can be found in the Humberland Pealands and nowhere else, are now thriving.

Peter Andrew, Group Safety & Environmental Manager at Evergreen Garden Care said, “As a garden brand, looking after the environment and natural world is really important to us all at Evergreen Garden Care. That’s why we’re pleased to handover this portion of Hatfield Moors to Natural England, to be looked after through their conservation efforts. As well as restoring the Peatlands, we want to help growers in their transition to using peat-free growing materials, which is why we’ve invested £7 million into our peat-free roadmap, investing in R&D to improve the quality of peat-free growing materials.”

Julian Small, Senior Reserve Manager at Natural England said, “We’ve seen remarkable improvements in the health of the peatlands in recent years — a testament to the dedication of our team on the ground and the support made possible through the transfer of land from Evergreen Garden Care. This area plays a vital role in supporting biodiversity, storing carbon, and providing benefits for local communities. Over the next few years, our ambition is to increase peat levels further and restore this beautiful landscape to its full potential.”

*https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/POST-PN-0668/POST-PN-0668.pdf 

Evergreen Garden Care is Europe’s leading manufacturer of high-quality gardening products, which are designed to inspire current and future gardeners to create their own oasis.  Evergreen Garden Care has some of the best known and trusted consumer brands within the garden care market, including Miracle-Gro®, Levington®, Roundup®, Weedol® and Clear™.  

Evergreen Garden Care is the only garden care manufacturer with its own research centre in the UK, based just outside of Ipswich. This unique facility is staffed by a team of horticultural scientists who work across 19 acres of turf, beds, borders and glasshouses to bring to life your favourite products, developing and testing new creations, crafting the best, innovative, eco-friendly feeds and growing media on the market. Evergreen’s dedicated scientists perform physical analysis and raw material assessments, and engage in field biology where they test the effects of our feeds and growing media, with a cutting edge 2,500m² glasshouse controlled by an environmental computer to ensure optimal growing conditions. 

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