Sustainable Gardening

October 7, 2013

We would like to say a massive thank you to Dalefoot Composts in Penrith for their kind donation of two bags of their wonderful peat free compost made of sheep’s wool and bracken.

The compost formed part of our competition prize at the recent Harrogate Autumn Flower show, along with a set of solar-powered garden lights and some tasty chocolate.

Wool & Bracken compost from Dalefoot Composts

The lucky competition winners were a delighted Mr & Mrs Chippendale from Skipton! They were particularly keen to put the unusual compost to the test, so we hope that they will enjoy some excellent results in the garden with this fantastic prize.

The Dalefoot Wool Compost contains wool, sheared from Dalefoot’s own flock of sheep, providing a high level of nitrogen that works as a slow-release fertiliser as well as providing good water-retention to give plants a boost and help gardeners achieve excellent results.

It is also contains bracken, an invasive plant which is often very problematic for farmers. So what better way to relieve this dilemma than to harvest the bracken and transform it into a beneficial product?! As well as producing a compost that is high in natural potash (essential for fruiting and flowering), the process of harvesting bracken also improves the local biodiversity of flora and fauna, grazing for animals, and the habitat for ground nesting birds and butterflies, in particular the High Brown Fritillary.

Cutting bracken above Ullswater

The Dalefoot range of composts provide a sustainable peat-free solution, and the company are also going one step further by being involved in lots of excellent work helping to restore peat bog habitats so these special places can be preserved for future generations.

You can find out more about their great products and conservation work at http://www.dalefootcomposts.co.uk