Welcome to the Durston Garden Products Media Centre

With a family business that stretches back seven generations, Durstons are proud of the experience they bring to the table, with unrivalled insight that bolsters their commitment to R&D and keeps the team focused on paving the way for the future of compost.

With Directors Chris Durston, Steve Durston and his son Dan firmly at the helm, the team has invested significantly back into the organisation in recent years, expanding operations, increasing capacity, developing new game-changing formulations and, just months ago, unveiling an exciting new rebrand that completely changed the face of the company and shaking up the compost sector.

Strengthened but not altered by their showstopping new look, Durstons’ ethos remains the same, as does their commitment to using the best quality responsibly-sourced ingredients for their products, with rigorous testing across all mixes to ensure consistent, trusted performance for gardeners.

The results of Durstons’ investment in product innovation speak for themselves, with their newly-launched Advanced peat-free range proven to deliver up to 70% more growth than standard mixes, as highlighted in independent growing trials.

Sales Director Dan Durston says: “Some people might think that a company that has been going as long as ours is stuck in its ways but nothing could be further from the truth at Durstons. Of course, we celebrate our past and what we have achieved over the years, but we use that to inform and propel us forward, so that we continue to keep pace with what modern gardeners want. That’s not to say we’re out of step with traditional growers either – we believe we can meet everyone’s needs – because we have products that work, outstripping both peat-based and peat-free competitors and delivering outstanding results for novices and experts alike.”

Durstons is rich in heritage and has seen a huge amount of change over the years, transforming from a manual working farm to a fully-automated modern growing media production plant, serving retailers and gardeners right across the UK. The business may have shifted but its focus on performance remains the same.

With a firm commitment to a peat-free future, Durstons are not only working hard to support gardeners in the move away from peat-based growing media but are also making concerted efforts to reverse the damage done to nature, restoring peatbogs and habitats in Somerset for local wildlife.

The family business has restored 100 acres (40 Hectares) of old peat workings to date, creating wetlands where wildlife can flourish. The surrounding area is now home to more than 18 species of bird, including egrets, wild ducks, and the Great Bittern, alongside deer, rabbits, hare, foxes, badgers, water voles, otters, dragon flies, and butterflies.

Dan Durston explains: “We have operated in this area for more than 150 years, so the local environment and wildlife is extremely important to us as a family and as a business. We strive to restore the peat workings properly, creating wetlands that host swathes of native and non-natives species of birds, not to mention insects and other mammals. Otters are back in the area now and beavers have even been spotted!

“We have completed many of these restoration schemes now and, with the seventh generation of the Durston family now working in the business, we are fully committed to continuing this process.”