Woottens of Wenhaston Green Policy

On the nursery we are passionate about helping the natural environment to continue to thrive. Our site in rural Suffolk is based on six acres of land and surrounded by Constable skylines, we have regular visits from barn owls, marsh harriers and an abundance of  robins, wrens and blackbirds. Bees, butterflies and ladybirds are common place. It is only fitting that the business we run here reflects our love of our surrounding environment.

Our Green Policy details how we go about doing this, how our customers can help us and the steps we’re making to improve our business and become ‘greener’. Each year we implement new methods to reduce our impact on the environment, these will be added to our policy as they occur.

Recycling

• We use the new ‘taupe’ pot which is recyclable in your bins at home. Similarly to the black pots these are made from recycled plastic.
• All our plastic pots and trays are washed and reused on the nursery until they aren’t fit for purpose. This includes seed and plug trays as well as general nursery stock.
• The pots we use are already made from recycled plastic
• When we do have to purchase new pots we are working with our suppliers to be able to move towards buying pots that are no longer the ‘unsortable’ black plastic but another colour that customers can recycle easier at home
• All our plant information labels are reused on the nursery until they aren’t fit for purpose.

Packaging

• Our packaging used for the mail order of plants is 100% biodegradable 
• The packaging consists of cardboard boxes, a biodegradable bag to line the base in case the plants are damp and cornstarch packing chips to hold the plants in place and prevent boxes from being crushed. Sealed with metal staples and paper tape. 
• The cornstarch chips are biodegradable and can be added to your garden compost. For full details of the product please see our supplier website – ‘Greenlight Packaging’
• Any additional items such as plastic bags, elastic bands etc are very rarely used and will have been reused from other deliveries. We encourage customers to reuse these items again.
• Our couriers – DPD, are committed to reducing their carbon footprint in a variety of ways. See their website for full details DPD – Carbon Neutral Commitment 

Pest, Disease and Weed Control

This is one of the biggest challenges within the nursery trade and we have been working on this project since 2011. Pests, diseases, viruses and weed are a natural part of life and we try our best to control them in methods that do not impact on the environment. This is how we go about it:

• No herbicides (weed killers) are used on our container grown stock. Weeds are controlled manually by staff and by using a top dress of potting bark
• No fungicides are used on our container grown stock. Fungal issues are controlled by daily observation, maintaining good plant health and immediate manual removal of any problems that arise usually by cutting a plant hard back to the ground or removing the infected areas
• No pesticides containing Neonicotinoids are used on the nursery.
• Natural predators and biological controls are used to control red spider mite, vine weevil and aphids.
• Throughout the summer we use natural ‘soap spray’ to control aphids on Pelargoniums.
• Pesticides are used minimally and only when other methods fail or infestations are severe.
• We are working with our suppliers to make sure all our ‘bought in’ stock holds the same standards as we do.

Compost

• Our Auriculas and Pelargoniums are supplied in peat-free compost
• Majority of our Irises and Hemerocallis are field grown and supplied bareroot
• Any other plants supplied in pots are supplied in peat-free compost

Manual Labour and Bareroot Plants

• All our Bearded Irises, Siberian Irises and Hemerocallis are lifted and replanted by hand rather than using large machinery
• All our plants are potted by hand

Water Saving

• We now hand water all our container grown stock daily rather than using overhead irrigation.
• Irrigation is only used in desperation and a lack of time!
• Rain water is collected from all our polytunnels and reused

Literature

• Our nursery and advertising leaflets are all designed and printed locally using FSC Certified Paper.
• We are aiming to use 100% recycled paper on all our leaflets in the very near future