A monumental time for peat-free compost

There's no longer any need to travel all the way to South Dakota to see four massive heads carved into a sculpture. Forget Mount Rushmore and head to Birmingham's Botanical Gardens to see some of television's favourite gardeners chiselled from peat-free compost.

The heads of Charlie Dimmock, Alan Titchmarsh, Monty Don and Carol Klein have been monumentalised in a six-foot sculpture as part of the ' Know Your Compost' campaign, conducted by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP). The initiative promotes the use of peat-free compost containing recycled materials.

Composts are key to getting good results in gardens. They store essential plant nutrients and moisture and provide fibrous materials that help delicate roots keep a firm hold in the ground. Peat-free composts are now competitively priced. They perform all the functions of normal composts, whilst also preventing garden waste from going to landfill, where they can create dangerous greenhouse gases. The composts contain bark and coir, as well as composted hedge, tree and grass clippings obtained from parks, gardens and civic amenity sites.

Campaign supporter (and model for one giant head) Charlie Dimmock said: "The sculpture is truly amazing and a real show-stopper!   It's a great way to help spread the word about why using peat-free compost containing recycled material is good news for garden ers as well as the environment."

James Wheeler, Chief Executive and Curator at Birmingham Botanical Garden, added: "We are delighted to have the sculpture within the garden. It has attracted a lot of public interest and we hope it will get people thinking about being more environmentally friendly in the garden."