New Sustainable Products

Gardening the sustainable way

Keeping you updated with new products and developments so you can help gardeners make more sustainable choices

Rattan certification is a world first for Van de Sar Import

A Dutch company with bases in Indonesia is thought to be the first in the world to gain a certification for the production process of its rattan products. Baskets are sold under the brand name of Terima Kasih (Indonesian for ‘thank you’) and it took Director Gerard Van de Sar four years to gain certification from the Non-Timber Forest Products - Exchange Programme. ‘Tropical rainforests are under pressure partly due to the large-scale harvest of the climbing rattan plant. Workers need to harvest a certain amount of rattan per day to have sufficient income. As a result, rattan is disappearing much faster than it can grow,’ says Gerard. Workers on islands such as Sulawesi and Kalimantan now harvest rattan based on a restricted number of plots in the jungle and young plants are protected. As piece-rate workers are now only allowed to harvest a limited amount of rattan, Van de Sar Import pays a higher price per kilo and workers are guaranteed year-round employment and can work when they wish. “Every piece of rattan is now fully traceable, from harvesting to the arrival of products in De Lier. Every transaction is recorded.” The company also supplies products made from sea grass, jute and recycled cotton and is now working to certify the process for these raw materials too.

Hortiwool’s versatile garden pad

Made from 100% British wool Hortiwool Garden Pads can be used in a number of ways from providing frost protection to lining hanging baskets. Wool’s amazing natural properties also mean the pads can be used for extra hydration, nutrition, or even pest control against slugs and snails. One pouch contains 5 Hortiwool pads measuring 27cm x 66cm and they are made by a family business in Staffordshire which has found a niche in the market providing wool lining to insulate boxes and packaging. For gardeners Hortiwool can be used as kneeling pads but for plants they can be added to growing media to boost nutrition, as mulching, or around root balls for plants growing in pots.

Natural gardening with Vitality Hemp

To meet the rising demand for plastic, toxic-free and zero waste gardening products, Vitality Hemp has introduced a range of products made from British grown hemp which is said to remove three times more C02 from the atmosphere than trees.

Hemp Soap Paste is a 100% natural cleanser which melts into a luxurious lather when a pea-sized amount is mixed with water. Sold in a 50g tin, the soap paste comes in lavender, mint and unscented plus charcoal to provide skin with a deep clean. It can be used as a shampoo as well.

Seed ItTM grow mats made from hemp fibres are an alternative to compost as a base for growing microgreens and leafy herbs. Afterwards they can be used as mulch or composted. They fit snugly into the company’s Bamboo Seed Tray made from bamboo fibre, rice starch and organic resin which can last up to five years and be used indoors and outside. Once its usable life has reached an end, the tray can be fully composted.

Wildlife World takes on plastic free gardening

The Natural Rubber Seed Tray from Wildlife World is a new product to look out for and was voted Best New Product at The Garden Press event this spring. Available in two sizes with 20 or 30 cells and FSC certification from the Fair Rubber Association these non-plastic trays can be used again and again. The company also supplies and 8 cell Rubber RootCoach for growing larger seeds, plugs and cuttings. Natural rubber is harvested from trees on a plantation in Sri Lanka which is certified as one which has not replaced natural forest.