Wool compost™ is farm-made on a traditional hill farm, Dalefoot, in the small valley of Heltondale in the Lake District National Park. Their Whitefaced Woodland and Cheviot sheep flocks run up the bracken covered fells to Loadpot where they live and rear their lambs and graze side by side with our herd of native Fell ponies. Double strength wool compost can stun s way it wil not stun the plants with nutrientsof a high fertiliser strength so may need to be diluted with homemade or spent compost to a ratio of 50:50. Not only is it 100% peat-free and organic, but it also contains a specially blended mix of nutrients that provides a strong germination rate and a balanced first feed.

I tried this compost for the first time last year and have never had such a wonderful crop of tomatoes. The wool is also full of slow-releasing nitrogen which, as we already know, is really important for strong plant growth.

When I got talking to them on their Chelsea stand I discovered that there was something quite different with this compost and when I was told that it was peat free and made from sheep’s wool and bracken, my interest was piqued.

Wool is also a slow sustained supply of nitrogen and as Dalefoot point out, there is no need for any additional plant food. Acts as a vital historic record of the land – peat contains vital and unique historical evidence of an area and its inhabitants.

Traditionally, here in the Lake District, bracken has been used as an animal winter bedding material, which was then spread on the land in Spring to fertilise the fields. For years there have been warnings about climate change, on what we need to do to protect and sustain this precious planet.

On the market today no other growing media has such a naturally high concentration of nutrients, for improving plant size and quality. You don’t need to add any fertilizers or plant feed into the compost because it is already packed with loads.Lancaster's Gardencare is a separate company and we refer landscaping enquiries to them as a free service. Many growers and producers of plants are now using this compost as an alternative to peat, with excellent results, so we promise, your garden will still be blooming beautiful when you make the switch.

Dalefoot is the brainchild of Lake District farmer Simon Bland and environmental scientist Jane Barker, ( pictured left) who use wool from their own flock and the Herdwick ‘wool-clip’ of neighbouring hill farmers, including National Trust tenants. id":33162944675943,"title":"Default Title","option1":"Default Title","option2":null,"option3":null,"sku":"5. The texture of this compost is also similar to peat, which makes beautifully friable compost but is so much better for the environment.On a global scale, the remaining areas of near-natural peatland) contains more than 550 gigatonnes of carbon.