Sustainability

Planting a bare root rose is a gesture of quiet confidence, a small act of faith in the turning of the seasons. It asks the gardener to trust in time, in patience, and in the rose’s own ancient rhythm. Long before plastic pots and glossy labels, this was how roses were grown and shared. Lifted carefully from the fields in autumn, their roots bare and bundled, they travelled lightly, ready to settle into new gardens and new soil.

In recent years, many gardeners have begun to rethink the compost they use to protect Britain's ancient peatlands. At David Austin^®, we have been working with peat-free compost for over fifteen years, and we now grow every rose in a 100% peat-free medium. With a few simple adjustments, you can do the same at home.

At David Austin^®, sustainability is at the heart of everything we do. Through our BLOOM initiative, we are committed to caring for the environment while ensuring our beautiful roses thrive. One of the key ways we achieve this is through our water recycling scheme.

We have installed photovoltaic solar panels on the roofs of our production facility, offices, and cold stores to reduce our environmental footprint and adopt cleaner energy sources. These solar panels are crucial in our efforts to achieve greater sustainability. 

We’ve implemented an Integrated Pest Management system across all six of our themed gardens and our nursery- home to the breeding of our world-renowned roses. 

Approximately 60,000 petals from over 20 varieties of English roses, including those from the new rose we revealed at the show, Penelope Lively^®, will now become sustainable, biodegradable confetti sold on to benefit various UK cancer charities.