Beware what’s in your plant pot
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As the weather gets warmer, you may be thinking about sprucing up your garden. Potted plants are a great way to get started, but they need to be carefully considered. Paul Hetherington, Director of Fundraising and Communications at Buglife, gave some great advice to bear in mind when making your next purchase.
By Paul Hetherington
We all love to make our gardens a mass of colour and scent, whether it’s a window box, patio pot or a large garden. Many of us thankfully are also keen to do something for nature, especially for pollinators in our gardens.
The internet is full of advice about which plants to buy for pollinators, for colour or for flowers at different times of the year, but there’s a lot more to responsible gardening than trotting down the garden centre and filling a trolley with summer bedding pants.
Here are a few top tips on what to watch out for when buying plants in pots.
1. Where's the plant from?
In the UK, over £1 billion of live plants are imported each year, so even English Lavender for instance may well have been imported. Now you’re probably wondering why this matters or if I’m writing on behalf of the British Plant Marketing Board. The reason is simply that this is the prime route of entry into the country for invasive alien species, stowed away as eggs in the soil around the plants. There are around eight species of Australasian flatworm now firmly established in the UK, most probably via this route. The problem is that they’re eating native earthworms, in some areas they’ve reduced the earthworm population by 20%.
2. Is the plant peat free?
Peat bogs are a very fragile and increasingly rare habitat, essential for a large range of invertebrates such as the Hieroglyphic ladybird. The largescale harvesting of peat for potting compost is fast eroding this habitat, so plants should be provided in peat free soil.
3. What pesticide treatments have been used?
A very large number of potted plants on sale have been grown from pre-treated seeds or treated with long lasting pesticides such as neonicotinoids. Even following the latest ban, the use of these bee killers is still permitted in glass houses, where of course the majority of potted plants start their life. With the best intentions, we can be buying plants that are attractive to bees but laced with death.
4. Is the plant good for wildlife?
Plentiful lists exist advising on plants that are good for wildlife and pollinators, stretching beyond just native wild plants. Check through the lists and try wherever possible to pick plants that are good for wildlife as well as your enjoyment. For instance, the majority of herbs are great for pollinators, good to look at and even better to eat.
With a few considerations, you can make a massive difference to the wellbeing of our native buglife. And remember to keep an eye out for any flatworms or their eggs lurking in you pot plant purchases.
And you can do even more to protect our habitats by switching to Ecotricity – not only will you get 100% green electricity and carbon neutral green gas, but we’ll use your bills to build new sources of green energy in Britain too.
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