Some time ago, when planting out some border plants, a ‘Eureka’ moment suddenly came to me.

We regularly plant a whole row of plants or herbs - which means a whole lot of holes with my trowel!

It’s much less fiddly to prepare a nice neat trench with a spade.

So - we designed a biodegradable trough.

They are made for us from natural, sustainable coir by our friends in Sri Lanka.

We plant the trough in the greenhouse,and let the plants grow up a bit, helped a little with organic Neem fertilizer.

We then pop the trough straight into the trench, prepared with green compost and natural seaweed.

Easy, and so certain of success.

Then along comes that old natural cycle again.

Nature taking the natural coir trough back into the soil, where it came from in the first place!

Can you give us any other uses for our trough ?

Perhaps an instant ‘mini’ maze, or to separate the kid’s garden plots, or some quick vegetable borders using our natural defenders ‘Tagetes’.

Please let us know what you think..

Above is a trough I am just about to pop into the garden, after raising the herbs in coir compost from our coir discs.

This was our original design, below is the final version - also ideal for your kitchen windowsill or conservatory. An indoor herb garden !

Above the ground the trough is fine for a year or so - then plant it out if it gets a bit ‘hairy’.

Just remember, you need a ‘wipe down’ surface when you give your herbs a water.

This trough on the left was planted by Jason at Kenway Nurseries. He too appreciates the environmental benefits of growing in biodegradable coir, rather than plastic.

Our troughs also save so much time in planting, this is an ‘instant hedge‘!

Slowly more and more nurseries are realising that natural coir is the way to a sustainable, waste free future.

Perhaps the key “pioneers” in using our pots are Caroline and Derek Taylor of Kirton Farm Nurseries.

For plants grown by this very friendly and very environmentally protective couple, have a look at www.hairypotplants.co.uk