What are Wool Pellets?
Wool pellets are the perfect solution to giving waste wool a purpose that benefits plants and our environment.
Wool pellets are a pelleted form of shorn wool. When a sheep is shorn, which is a part of good sheep husbandry, wast wool is discarded. This byproduct can instead be made into a pellet and then turned into the garden. This is a sustainable, all-natural way to help our gardens thrive, and supports small local farms.
As your wool pellets break down, which takes about six months, they release nitrogen the entire time. Nitrogen that doesn’t overwhelm our plants is ideal, so this is such a perk. With the pellets also being able to hold water – three times their weight – they also help keep your beds moist and well-watered. This overall increases your soil health.
Additionally, fluffy wool pellets mean some extra air pockets in the soil, otherwise known as aeration, and that makes root growth easier and keeps disease at bay.
Lastly, there are little barbs in the wool that are tiny tiny that will deter slugs and snails, which are a common Fall gardening issue.
The Benefits of Using Wool Pellets in your Garden
- Soil improvement: Wool pellets are an organic soil amendment that can improve soil health over time. They slowly break down and release nutrients like nitrogen and potassium back into the soil.
- Water retention: Wool pellets can hold more than three times their weight in water, which can help reduce the need to water plants.
- Aeration: Wool pellets can help improve soil aeration.
- Slug and snail repellent: Wool pellets can deter slugs and snails from harming plants. The wool fibers are barbed, which irritates the feet of slugs and snails that try to cross them.
- Weed inhibition: Wool pellets can help inhibit weed growth.
- Sustainable: Wool is a natural and sustainable material.
- Easy to use: Wool pellets can be placed around the base of plants or mixed into the soil.
- Organic fertilizer: Wool pellets can be used as an organic slow-release fertilizer for house plants, hanging baskets, and potted plants.
A dense layer of wool at the base of the tree saved the newly planted dogwood tree.