The British wool market has enjoyed an unlikely resurgence, with the average price up 70% in the past 12 months following renewed demand for knitwear, flooring, insulation… and weed-suppressing mats.

For the past four years, Fife-based Biowool has been buying Yorkshire fleeces and transforming them into biodegradable carpets. These are designed to be laid under newly planted trees and hedgerows to prevent weed growth and, to a lesser degree, conserve moisture.

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The permeable material reduces evaporation, can absorb up to 100% of its weight in water and, despite a mild processing treatment, also retains its lanolin content. The resulting scent apparently deters deer and the coarse fibres should discourage slugs and snails from attempting to munch the saplings.

Double-hedge installations are catered for by 25x1m rolls, which cost £60 and are now available in Ezee Hedge guise with six pre-cut plant slots per metre in a staggered twin-row formation.

And, for trees, the firm supplies 0.5sq m, 0.75sq m or 1sq m mats. Prices for these start at 60p, excluding a bag of barbed bamboo pegs to pin them in place.

The wool will naturally break down in the soil after two or three years, giving the growing plants a dash of extra nutrition as it does so.