The Royal Horticultural Society has been criticised for continuing to sell products that kill wildflowers and insects, despite public messaging about protecting biodiversity.
Last year, the RHS said slugs and snails would no longer be classed as pests. The leading garden charity said they were an important part of the garden ecosystem and “play an important role in planet-friendly gardening”.
However, critics have said to commit to this message the charity should stop selling slug and snail killer products on its website. It also sells weedkillers, which are dangerous to bees, and other bug killers in RHS garden centres.
The RHS has said it is working to remove the final products it holds that control weeds or bugs. A spokesperson said: “By early May, RHS Retail will only sell chemical-free products and preventive, barrier products – as part of our ongoing approach to garden as sustainably as possible – in our own gardens, our shops and through the advice we give.”
The charity said in 2021 it cancelled the branded licensing of weedkiller and slug pellets, adding: “We have significantly changed our thinking since the decision to license these products five years ago.” It said some independent retailers still had old stock available.
Since being contacted, the RHS has updated the website to remove the herbicide Neudorff weedkiller among other products. It has also added a paragraph on the sale of these products that includes the sentence: “Weeds are often classed as plants in the wrong place.”
The RHS said for a number of weeks it had been removing products as part of an ongoing programme of reviewing ranges and sourcing sustainable alternatives.
Weeds contribute to a garden’s biodiversity, and weedkillers harm plants and organisms beyond those gardeners are trying to kill. Weeds and wildflowers may compete with crops for nutrients, light and water but many also attract pollinators while others can improve the soil.
Traditional slug pellets contain metaldehyde, a toxic ingredient harmful to slugs and other wildlife. Birds and hedgehogs are unlikely to eat the pellets but can be harmed if theyconsume a dead snail or slug that has eaten them.
Joel Ashton, a wildlife garden designer and author who has been campaigning on social media for the removal of these products, said the UK’s wildlife was “in decline, from insects right the way through to our birds and mammals”.
He added: “The RHS is still selling and promoting products that are detrimental to our native flora and fauna, including bees, beetles and other vital pollinating insects as well as targeting slugs and snails.
“The continued ridding and killing of these species has a detrimental effect further up the food chain, for example birds like the song thrush, which is now a red-listed species, that relies on snails as a food source.”
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Ashton said bug-killer products were damaging because “birds require insects, caterpillars etc to bring moisture back to their young, so creating habitat that supports and encourages these insects is vital”.
He added: “Even ‘organic’ and ‘environmentally friendly’ labelled products can still be extremely harmful to bees. Most contain either flupyradifurone, which I understand impacts honeybee brains in a similar way to neonicotinoids, and pyrethroids, which not only can kill bees but, if allowed to leach into our water systems, kill small larvae of water-dwelling insects in doses as little as four parts per trillion. It is vital that the public are aware of this.”
Ten years ago the Wildlife Trusts partnered with the RHS to encourage people to garden for wildlife. Thirzah McSherry, the director of communications and development at the Wildlife Trusts, said it strongly encouraged people to avoid using toxic pesticides that harm wildlife.
She added: “We also recognise that the classification of a plant as a ‘weed’ is usually purely subjective, but nature is in trouble and we need to embrace plant biodiversity and allow our wildflowers to flourish.”
Stephen Moss, a naturalist and author, said the issue was symptomatic of the war between tidy gardeners and wildlife gardeners.
“The RHS is behind the curve here and should be setting an example. Most gardeners do not want to use these products. If you have a garden centre selling bird food and feeders on one side, and then products that poison insects on the other, that is not joined-up thinking,” he said.
