Peat bed

[John85]

I 'd like to build a peatbed but the only peat available here is peat from carex and juncus not sphagum.
Has somebody already used that kind of peat to build a bed?
As it is a compact substrate is it a good idea to mix some sand?

[John85]

Is there somewhere info about making a peat bed on the forum?Nothing found with the search engine.
What mixture do you use?One member told me that he uses mainly leafmould to "fill" his peat bed.

[WimB]

Sorry for this blatant advertisement  but there's some information here:
http://translate.google.nl/translate?sl=nl&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=nl&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vrvforum.be%2Fforum%2Findex.php%3Ftopic%3D452.0%3Btopicseen

[Maggi Young]

Goodness me, Wim, no need to be coy about that great link! Thank you! 

[WimB]

Goodness me, Wim, no need to be coy about that great link! Thank you! 

  Well, it was either that, or copying 12 pages of information from our forum to this forum 

[Tim Ingram]

That is a wonderfully helpful discussion Wim! What is your summer climate and rainfall like? And other members in the discussion? I have often toyed with the idea of such a bed for dwarf ericaceous plants but suspect our climate is just too dry for them, even with supplementary watering - but having said this the indomitable Cecilia Coller grows many of her Show plants plunged in a cool peat plunge, in Norfolk, and they grow magnificently.

[WimB]

All of the members in the discussion live in Flanders and the Netherlands:

You can see the climograph of Ghent (for the rest of Flanders and the Netherlands, they are similar) here: http://wis-site.pm-gent.be/jpegs/klimatogramgent.png

Max temps during summer can go up to 30°C (for a couple of weeks) Min temps go down to -15°C. We have constant rainfall here (but we can have very dry periods in summer or in spring (last year it didn't rain for 8 weeks in spring! Plants were suffering!)), driest months are February, March and April!

[fleurbleue]

A so interesting post Wim   I was always wondering  what a peat bed could really be...  

[Ian Y]

Is there somewhere info about making a peat bed on the forum?Nothing found with the search engine.
What mixture do you use?One member told me that he uses mainly leafmould to "fill" his peat bed.

John we should replace the term,peat bed, with humus rich bed which better describes the conditions we need.

We use leaf mould, garden compost and composted shredded prunnings to create humus rich woodsy type soil. Sometimes we add sharp sand to keep the medium open and free draining.
This works well in our acid conditions if you are on lime it may limit what you plant.
Hope this helps.

[John85]

Yes Ian that is good news,and no problems with lime here:the soil is acid.
Unfortunately four months(and last year much more) without rain is usual here in summer,definitively worse than East Anglia as temperatures are higher too.A leaking pipe will be buried in the bed and I 'll locate it next to the pound for higher air humidity and in a spot sheltered from the wind.
Thank you all.