Hen harriers, short-eared owls and nature at large are all at risk from what we get up to in the garden, according to Cumbria Wildlife Trust.

This week, the Kendal-based charity is urging the area's green-fingered brigade to think greener when it comes to choosing their soil conditioner.

With the gardening season now getting into full swing, the trust is urging people to only use peat-free composts in their gardens.

To get the message across, it has just re-launched its leaflet Where to buy peat-free products 2004.

Kate Wenham, of the trust, said: "The ultimate aim of the leaflet is to encourage us all to save some of the UK's most important habitats - peat-bogs - which include lowland raised bog and blanket bog. These have been identified as needing urgent conservation action under the UK's Biodiversity Action Plan."

The leaflet provides information on the range of peat-free products available from big DIY chains and some supermarkets and includes details of those stores with the most responsible attitudes towards peat use.

Ms Wenham added: "Bogs are one of the few ancient landscapes that still look almost exactly as they did thousands of years ago. They are a bridge with our past. Without bogs we would lose astonishing plants like sundews, sphagnum mosses and cotton grass; beautiful insects like marsh fritillary butterflies; and spectacular birds like hen harriers and short-eared owls. Bogs are also important carbon sinks, places where carbon is stored as peat, preventing it escaping into the atmosphere, where it would increase global warming."

Cumbria Wildlife Trust nature reserves include several important peat bogs. Drumburgh National Nature Reserve, near Kirkbride, west of Carlisle, is one of the four South Solway raised bogs which, together, are considered the best in England. Foulshaw Moss, near Witherslack, in the south of the county, is another of the largest remaining areas of lowland raised bog habitat in England.

Ms Wenham said: "Both these places support a rich and varied mix of plants and animals that are specially adapted to the wet conditions.

"Ninety four per cent of the UK's lowland bogs have been destroyed or damaged, mainly due to drainage and peat cutting. To extract peat, the bog has to be drained and the surface stripped of vegetation, a process that essentially kills the bog. Once destroyed, these habitats are gone forever.

"Home gardening accounts for around 70 per cent of horticultural peat use, so reducing this volume alone will have a major impact in halting the decline."

The trust said anyone wanting to find out more about wildlife-friendly gardening should get along to its Garden Bonanza on Sunday, May 23 at Plumgarths, the trust's headquarters, at Crook Road, Kendal. A fun day of activities for all the family is promised with guided tours, music, rural craft and plant stalls, children's activities and refreshments; 10am-4pm. There will be birds of prey on display and a chance to experience beekeeping first-hand. Admission: adults £3, children £1, family rates available.

l Download a PDF copy of the leaflet from www.cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk Read the contents of the leaflet on the website.

Send an A5 SAE to Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Plumgarths, Crook Road, Kendal, Cumbria LA8 8LX.

Collect one from Plumgarths, open between Monday and Friday 9am-5pm./b>