Climbing the walls

I still haven't been to Anthropologie on Regent Street, but I have read an awful lot about their indoor vertical garden. I've been looking into vertical gardens, and came across London's experts in the "field" - Garden Beet is a company that helps walls grow green things. They sell Woolly Wally Pockets, which is a vertical gardening system you can use inside and out. And while that is fairly special, guess what else is special about them? They're manufactured from old plastic bottles, hooray. I nicked the following Q&A session from the WWP website for all of us to enjoy...

What is breathability?

Plants need oxygen in their soil in order to thrive. Woolly Pockets are made of felt derived from recycled plastic bottles that allows the soil to refresh its oxygen supply. This feature is called breathability.

What are the benefits of breathable containers?

There are two primary benefits to container gardening in breathable containers. First, it allows the soil to aerate naturally, which reduces the need to drain the containers and also helps to conserve water. Second, when the roots sense air they do something called air pruning. This is the natural process of stopping their own growth when they sense they've reached the limits of their space. This keeps the roots healthy and stops plants from becoming root-bound by growing in continuing circles as they do in non-breathable containers such as clay pots.

What are Woolly Pockets made of?

Woolly Pockets have two main components: the breathable felt and the built-in moisture barrier. The breathable portion is made of 100% recycled plastic bottles that have been industrially felted. The moisture barrier is made according to military standards for impermeability from 60% recycled plastic bottles. We stitch each pocket together by hand with a double lock stitch and strong, UV-resistant nylon thread.