Wood is the way...

We’re absolutely the first ones to hold up our hands and say that we are certainly not perfect when it comes to how much single use plastic we use in the garden. But we are trying.

We – like many of you – are trying to reduce the number of plastic pots we use by growing our own plants. As the RHS says “growing your own from seed is the best way to go plastic free” – and they know their onions. And every other form of vegetable, fruit and flower.

As well as re-using plastic trays and pots so they’re many, many times used (rather than just heading straight to landfill where they take 400+ years to break down), we also use toilet rolls for growing some seeds too (as all our newspaper supplies go into packing our orders up for customers).  It’s all the other small changes that can add up too – like refraining from using plastic plant labels, or plastic plant ties.

So, if you’re wanting to be a bit more eco-friendly, and use a bit less plastic around the garden, we now have some new some tools that just might help.

• In your goal to grow more you'll need two key tools:
  • Wooden pricking stick – this one is particularly good because as well as helping you to sow seeds to the right depth (with 2cm and 3cm markings), it also has a flattened side so when you prick out delicate seedlings you can more easily get between the plants without doing damage.
  • Wooden garden dibber – everyone needs and uses a garden dibber for replanting their seedlings (as well as planting bulbs). It does exactly what you need, but is brilliant quality, with good clear measurements from 2cm up to 12.5cm.
• Wooden plant labels – these are a good size for writing all the notes you need (yes you can use lollipop sticks but they are tiny to write on) and they look good in your pots or at the end of your rows too.
• Wooden planting clamps – these a great way of keeping your plants under control without resorting to plastic ties. They are particularly good as they can be moved around easily, and they have large holes so there is plenty of space for the plants to grow in them without damaging the stems. They can be used for climbing plants such as cucumbers, beans, sweet peas etc.

All these new wooden planting tools and equipment are from Redecker – the German brush specialists. Meaning they are exceptionally well designed and made.

As well as being able to buy these all separately for the forthcoming growing season, we’ve put them together into a ‘Wooden planting companion set’ – which would make a cracking gift for the gardener in your life who is perhaps wanting to start growing more from seed, or move away from their reliance on plastic. This comes in a nice tin box, which is not only plastic free packaging – but is good for keeping your seeds in going forward!