Hello Stilly! The compost is non-peat based and made from composted recycled green waste stuff, so I expect it's okay. (I used to make my own compost, but it got a bit too much for me.) The gel granules are only for the hanging baskets, and I mix them and the feed pellets in with the compost so it doesn't dry out hanging in the wind. The 'forest bark' for around the veggie beds is from local timber felling of pine trees. It isn't artificially coloured, and it actually does break down to make nice soil, which the weeds love, so I have to replace it every 3 years or so.
I do feel for you with the hay fever. My husband seems to be allergic to rapeseed pollen, and this year the farmers seem to have sown the wretched stuff in every field around our village. The recent warm weather has got it flowering early and he's doped up with Piriton.