England, Wales, Scotland & Northern Ireland
Spring Gardening
Sustainable Spring gardening by Chimney Sheep
Chimney Sheep encouraging gardeners to go sustainable with their gardening this Spring with their sustainable gardening collection. Chimney Sheep’s range of all-natural gardening products are essential for gardeners that want to keep their gardens pesticide-free, luscious and environmentally friendly. Chimney Sheep have worked to re-purpose natural materials such as jute and wool to create several products that allow gardeners to make sustainable gardening choices. With everything from mulch to horticultural felt, wool pellets to terracotta olla irrigation pots, the range inspires gardeners to say no to chemicals and yes to natural gardening. The products have a broad range of beneficial properties and ensure that gardeners will have a successful growing season.
Chimney Sheep’s sustainable gardening collection includes:
Jute Mulch Mats
The Chimney Sheep compostable mulch mats are made from recycled jute coffee sacks. They fit neatly into pots or directly onto beds to protect plants, designed to just slot around the base of each plant. The all-natural mats are perfect for aiding the growth of flowering and vegetable plants including brassicas, strawberry and beetroot plants. With each plants getting its own mulch mat, the concentration of mulch per plant is much higher than using mulching materials such as straw and bark that are spread across beds. At 5mm, they are dense and sit firmly on the ground, unlike the polypropylene versions. The jute mulch mats keep plants protected and help them to grow by reducing water evaporation, creating a natural barrier against weeds, reducing competition for water and nutrients, providing nutrients for the plants as they compost down and helping to deter greedy slugs and snails. The compostable mats will last 1-2 years (depending on the conditions) before they have rotted down completely.
The circular mulch mats come in various sizes ranging from 4” – 16” in diameter. A variety pack of 60 with various sizes is also available. Prices start from £15.00. They are available to buy from chimneysheep.co.uk
Jute Hanging Basket Liners
The Chimney Sheep Jute Hanging Basket Liners are made from recycled coffee sacks. At 5mm thick, they are robust enough to last year after year, allowing each liner to be used for multiple hanging basket creations over the seasons. Completely compostable (due to being plastic free), the jute material helps to increase water retention in the hanging basket. These can be paired with the Chimney Sheep Metal Hanging Basket and the Organic Sheep’s Wool Pellets for further water retention and soil improving properties.
The jute liners come in packs of two, ranging in various sizes from 12”-18” in diameter. Prices start from £3.60. They are available to buy from chimneysheep.co.uk.
Metal Hanging Baskets
The Chimney Sheep Metal Hanging Baskets are plastic-free, strong, durable and long-lasting - perfect for hanging in gardens, balconies or courtyards. The aesthetic hanging baskets are a reusable and more sustainable alternative to single-use plastic or wood hanging baskets. These can be paired with the jute hanging basket liners and organic sheep’s wool pellets for the ultimate sustainable hanging basket kit. At the end of their long lives, each of the metal hanging baskets are recyclable.
The hanging baskets are available in 12” and 16” diameters.
Prices start from £3.60. They are available to buy from chimneysheep.co.uk.
Sheep’s Wool Garden Felt
Produced in Yorkshire, the Chimney Sheep Sheep’s Wool Garden Felt is 100% natural and extremely versatile. Made with two layers wool and a middle layer of jute the felt can be used across beds or cut down to size as needed. The unique combination of the sheep’s wool and the jute means that the garden felt is the perfect mulch for ‘no dig’ enthusiasts. It is also dense which is crucial for keeping pesky weeds away and keeping plants protected, textured and woolly which will deter slugs and snails, hygroscopic (which means that it absorbs moisture but releases it slowly, so plants won’t need watering as often), full of nitrogen, potassium and phosphate which naturally occurs in the wool and helps with healthy plant growth. The felt can also used as an excellent growing medium as roots are able to burrow their roots into it. The felt is 100% biodegradable and compostable within about a year.
The garden felt is 1.4m wide and is priced at £8.40 per linear metre. It is available to buy from chimneysheep.co.uk.
Sheep’s Wool Garden Fleece
The Chimney Sheep garden fleece is perfect for protecting plants against bad weather and potential pests. The fleece is thick enough to create a barrier of protection against frost, wind and pests but lightweight enough to allow light penetration. Versatile in its uses, the fleece can either be pegged over whole beds or wrapped around individual plants. Made of 100% sheep's wool, the fleece is completely natural and compostable. It is a great plastic-free, sustainable alternative to the traditional polypropylene horticultural fleece.
The garden fleece is 1.7m wide and is priced at £4.80 per linear metre. It is available to buy from chimneysheep.co.uk.
Felt Shillies
These felt shillies are a woolly alternative to the traditional slate chippings used in gardening. Made from the scrap pieces of Herdwick felt used to make Chimney Sheep draught excluders, felt shillies make the perfect garden mulch. Gardening mulch shields plants from harsh temperatures and weather conditions and the shillies give that bit of extra ‘umph’ on top of this. Herdwick wool is naturally hygroscopic which means that it absorbs moisture but releases it slowly, so less time needs to be spent watering. The felt shillies are also an effective slug and snail deterrent due to the texture of the wool as well as being protectant for plants from frost during the winter. The shillies are super easy to use – they can either be piled up around delicate plants for protection or spread out across a whole beds. 1kg of felt shillies will cover approximately 1 square metre of soil.
The felt shillies are available in packs of 1kg and 3kg with prices starting from £7.50. They are available to buy from chimneysheep.co.uk.
Organic Sheep’s Wool Pellets
The Chimney Sheep Organic Sheep’s Wool Pellets are a combination of wool and muck, pressed into pellet form. Sheep’s wool pellets have traditionally been used by organic gardeners as slug deterrents and these pellets do just that. They also act as a nutrient rich mulch and soil improver due to the naturally occurring nitrogen, potassium and phosphate in the wool. This helps to produce strong, luscious plants. The pellets are able to absorb water and slowly release this along with nutrients, due to the hygroscopic properties of wool. This makes them perfect for use in hanging baskets, veggie patches, greenhouses and ornamental gardens.
The wool pellets are available in packs of 3.5L, priced at £15.00. They are available to buy from chimneysheep.co.uk.
Terracotta Olla Irrigation Pot
Made from beautiful, naturally porous terracotta, the Chimney Sheep Ollas are a fantastic method of ensuring a constant trickling water supply makes its way to plant roots as and when they need it. Once filled up, the Olla watering pot allows water to flow out into the soil surrounding plant roots. The system works through the power of water tension and osmosis. Water enters the soil from the watering jug at the same rate it's being pulled out by the plants (or escaping via evaporation). Not only does this reduce the risk of over-watering or under-watering, but reduces the need for hand-watering. They're made from entirely naturally occurring terracotta clay, they're unglazed and untreated.
The Ollas are available in 1l, 2l, 3l and 4l sizes with prices starting from £12.00. They are available to buy from chimneysheep.co.uk.
Wildflower Seed Mat Kit
The Wildflower Seed Mat Kit is a great introduction to “no-dig” gardening for young and old alike. The easy-to-use kit requires no pre-planting preparation – the piece of wool garden felt in the kit just needs to be pegged straight onto soil, watered to ensure it is wet, wildflower seeds sprinkled over and then the wool compost sprinkled over the top. By using sheep's wool felt and wool compost, the wildflower seeds will be set up for success. The wool will naturally retain and release moisture as needed by the seeds, and will also add key nutrients into the soil as they compost down, ensuring bloomin' beautiful wildflowers. The kit includes a generous sized piece of wool garden felt (60cm x 35cm), a packet of annual and perennial wildflower seeds, a bag of Dalefoot wool compost, and eight bamboo.
The seed mat kit is priced at £15.00. It is available to buy from chimneysheep.co.uk.
Seed Bomb Kit
The Chimney Sheep Seed Bomb kits are great for bringing out the inner guerrilla gardener. Containing a packet of wool compost, clay, wildflower seeds and simple instructions, each kit will make between 20 and 30 seed bombs. The wildflower seeds are a mixture of 22 native species that are perfect for seeding in existing grasslands. These flowers will attract a range of bees and butterflies, turning neglected areas into mini nature havens. The mixture of clay and wool compost will preserve the seeds in perfect condition. On contact with rainwater the clay-and soil mix will soften, the seeds will germinate, and within a few weeks the space will transform become a colourful haven for wildlife.
The seed bomb kit is priced at £7.50. It is available to buy from chimneysheep.co.uk.
