If you put it in the garden, you must thoroughly soak it first or it will repel water forever. Soak it in a wheelbarrow and stir it.

You can use it as a component in your own potting soil mix, add to your compost or amend the soil in any planting area. It is especially useful in amending the soil for acid-loving plants like blueberries, rhododendrons, gardenias, camellias, etc.

The hydrophobic or water-repelling properties are most often encountered when trying to use peat moss as a mulch, which I wouldn't recommend. Typically peat moss - unless exposed to sun and other drying conditions - already has a moisture component that allows it to be incorporated into the soil without presoaking. But if you think it's too dry, by all means, go ahead and rehydrate.

I'm surprised to hear that, because pre-wetting peat was standard advice when I was growing up as a gardener. I had an experience once, which seemed to verify the advice; for years after I dug in a bale of peat once in a new garden, I would encounter large pockets of peat in my soil that were as dry and powdery as the day I dug it in. I've been repeating the advice ever since.

As annpat said presoaking is nothing new. You want the peat as wet as the soil you are adding it to so if the sol is dry then the peat can be mixed in dry then soak. Yes peat is good for its acidic ways. I think it is 4.5 so dont add too much unless you have low ph wanting plants.

I guess I will soak it and put it in my compost pile. Thanks!