Sphagnum a sustainable substitute in growing media. Coir has also been touted as a sustainable alternative to peat moss in growing media. Another peat moss alternative is manufactured in California from sustainably harvested redwood fiber. Semi-open cell polyurethane materials available in flaked and sheet stock are also finding application as sphagnum replacements with typical usage in green wall and roof garden substrates. Europe has a long history of the exploitation of peatlands. The Netherlands, for example, once had large areas of peatland, both fen and bog. Between 100 AD and the present, they were drained and converted to agricultural land. The
Scheuchzeria species was known from, and only one where it currently occurs; it is extinct at a few other wetland sites further south in Britain, being found in pools and west hollows of ancient undisturbed Sphagnum bogs. Scheuchzeria Scheuchzeria palustris (Rannoch-rush, or pod grass), is a flowering plant in the family Scheuchzeriaceae, in which there is only one species and Scheuchzeria is the only genus. In the APG II system it is placed in the order Alismatales of the monocots. It is a herbaceous perennial plant, native to cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, where it grows in wet "Sphagnum"