WHILE we’ve always used sheep pellets for fertilising gardens, one of the best kept secrets to come out in recent years is the use of wool as a good ingredient in mulch.
For many gardeners on sheep and beef properties, it’s useful and been around for a while, as long as it’s well shredded and not allowed to be clumped.
As a mulch, used to surround plants above ground, sheep’s wool provides a porous shield that helps to reduce weed growth whilst regulating soil temperatures – keeping soil cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
Numerous studies have shown the efficacy of wool mats used to quash weed growth with one noting that wool fabric nearly eliminated all weed growth, promoted daughter plant rooting and increased fruit yields in strawberries when compared to plants that were manually weeded and treated with a standard herbicide.
A similar study evaluating the use of wool mulch treatment in strawberries found that maximum temperatures were consistently lower and minimum temperatures consistently higher than those without wool.
Overall, temperature variation was significantly lower for soil under the wool mulch.
This study also agreed that wool mulch (single- and double-ply) is an effective barrier to weeds.
Although not detailed in the scientific literature, there is anecdotal evidence to suggest that wool pellets might also deter slugs and snails, as some wool fibres have microscopic barbs which may act as a physical barrier.
Wool may be composted with a large variety of different materials, or for some uses may not need to be composted at all.
Alternatively, wool may be processed into pellets – the pellet structure may allow for better soil aeration and porosity. Studies investigating composting strategies suggest that on a large scale, 25% wool, 25% horse muck and 50% grass clippings may provide the best results.
When compared to combinations with manure and woodchips and food waste and woodchips, the compost containing manure and grass clippings had the most appropriate moisture content, pH, temperature and composting time.
Either way though, it seems a good way to use up some of what we have plenty of in these parts.
