Waste wool is considered any wool not suitable for textiles or wool that doesn't sell. Most waste wool is either composted, sent to the landfill or burned. A few shepherds like ourselves have discovered its many uses in the garden.

Wool regulates temperature, maintains moisture, and breaks down slowly. Wool is mostly keratin, a type of fiberous protein made up of various amino acids, along with some lanolin, a substance made from a combination of high molecular mass lipids. As a keratin based fiber, it differs structurally from cellulose (plant) based fibers giving it its unique qualities, especially when wet.

When added to the soil, the amino acids in wool will break down slowly releasing its nutrients over the season. Our wool pellets have a N-P-K of 11-0-5. They are rich in nitrogen and potash; and contain trace minerals such as calcium, magnesium, manganese, iron and zinc. Nitrogen is the nutrient that encourages green growth in plants while potash is the nutrient that makes fruit sweet.

Wool has almost no phosphorus, making it an ideal solution for gardens dealing with a build up of phosphorus due to years of manure use. However, phosphorus is the nutrient used for plant blooms. So if you are planning to use wool pellets to fertilize your flowers, do a soil test to make sure it has enough phosphorus already.

Wool Pellets are an ideal choice of fertilizer for sandy soils. Because it is a slow-release type fertilizer, it breaks down slowly over the season. This helps combat nutrient leaching often found in gardens with sandy soil due to rain or excess watering. In clay soils, wool pellets retain structure while breaking down slowly, improving aeration.

Because wool both retains moisture and improves aeration, Wool Pellets make an excellent, sustainable source of organic material to use in soil blocks and seed starts in place of peat moss. Peat moss takes thousands of years to generate, while sheep are shorn once or twice a year.

When used in potted plants or grow-bags, wool pellets make an great option for reusing potting soil. Potting soil can exhaust its nutrients over one or two seasons, making it a costly option to replace the potting soil every one or two years.

We recommend mixing wool pellets with older potting soil to renew it's vitality. Try also adding fresh compost worm castings to the potting mix to enrich it with microorganisms and help break the wool down faster.

As an added bonus, wool pellets make a great slug deterrent! The easy-to-arrange pellet format makes it fun to add fortifications around your plants and discourage slugs from feasting.