Garden heroines
This week, two women take centre stage in my column, entrepreneurs whose energy and staying power have converted ideas for improving the lot of the gardener into remarkable businesses. The first is Kim Stead, whom I met last year at the Chelsea Flower Show, where she was a new exhibitor. Her business had only been going for a year, so she was thrilled that her creation, twool, a garden twine made from the wool of Whiteface Dartmoor sheep, had been shortlisted for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show Product of the Year 2013. ‘Making a presentation to the judges was terrifying,’ says Kim, ‘like Dragons’ Den.’ This year, fired by the experience, she is putting forward her new product, twool rope.
Kim was born in Plymouth, worked as a successful graphic designer in London, and later decided to ‘hang up her pencils’ and return to Devon, to Ashburton. Two years ago, she was lying awake at 2am, wondering if there was a local, sustainable alternative to the imported jute twine she used in her garden. As she pondered also on the plight of the ancient breed of Whiteface Dartmoor sheep and the under use of their ‘lustre’ long wool, the idea for twool was born.
Five months later, textile designer and manufacturer, John Arbon, with whom Kim worked closely, had come up with a yarn that had strength and reliability as a practical alternative to jute or plastic. Various processes are involved in making sustainable garden twine: scouring to rid the wool of lanolin and other contaminants, spinning, dyeing – the colours are gorgeous – spooling on to cardboard cores, and printing labels on recycled paper using vegetable-based inks.
Twool rope, Kim’s new product, is the only worsted rope now manufactured in the UK. Made as either laid rope or plaited and twisted braid, it’s available in hanks or by the metre. As well as tying up trees and shrubs, twool rope can be used for barriers, handrails and swings. Kim says she couldn’t have brought the products to market without the help of farmers and the woollen industry, the University of Exeter, which tested the elasticity, flexibility and resilience of the rope, and the support of the British Wool Marketing Board. ‘I never dreamt in a million years I would be doing this,’ she says, ‘and it has transformed my life.’
Twool will be at the Chelsea Flower Show this year at the top of Eastern Avenue. A friend of Kim’s has crocheted poppies for Chelsea and vegetables for twool’s stand at The Edible Garden Show at Alexandra Palace from 28 to 30 March.
My second entrepreneur, Sue O’Neill, was, in her words, ‘a frustrated London balcony gardener’ who escaped to the Cotswolds five years ago, to a charming cottage with a large, neglected garden. Gardening became a passion, but she was less enthused by the penetrating damp, the wet knees and the insidious chill. What was needed, she thought, was some serious performance clothing for the all-weather gardener.
Research led her to ‘technical’ clothing for tough outdoor activities. Her next tasks were writing the business plan, generating the finance and coordinating the sources of supply. The company, Genus, was launched in August last year. It currently has a range of three garments in various sizes for women and for men: a soft-touch gardening jersey, a windproof gilet and high-performance gardening trousers made from lightweight stretch nylon. Among many excellent features, the trousers have damp-proof seat panels, neoprene-lined knees and stab-proof pockets for knives and secateurs. Sales are going well – customers love the trousers – and Sue has plans to expand the range and exhibit at Chelsea in 2015.
Twool: 01364-654467, www.twool.co.uk and Genus: 01285-740004, www.genus.gs
Kim was born in Plymouth, worked as a successful graphic designer in London, and later decided to ‘hang up her pencils’ and return to Devon, to Ashburton. Two years ago, she was lying awake at 2am, wondering if there was a local, sustainable alternative to the imported jute twine she used in her garden. As she pondered also on the plight of the ancient breed of Whiteface Dartmoor sheep and the under use of their ‘lustre’ long wool, the idea for twool was born.
Five months later, textile designer and manufacturer, John Arbon, with whom Kim worked closely, had come up with a yarn that had strength and reliability as a practical alternative to jute or plastic. Various processes are involved in making sustainable garden twine: scouring to rid the wool of lanolin and other contaminants, spinning, dyeing – the colours are gorgeous – spooling on to cardboard cores, and printing labels on recycled paper using vegetable-based inks.
Twool rope, Kim’s new product, is the only worsted rope now manufactured in the UK. Made as either laid rope or plaited and twisted braid, it’s available in hanks or by the metre. As well as tying up trees and shrubs, twool rope can be used for barriers, handrails and swings. Kim says she couldn’t have brought the products to market without the help of farmers and the woollen industry, the University of Exeter, which tested the elasticity, flexibility and resilience of the rope, and the support of the British Wool Marketing Board. ‘I never dreamt in a million years I would be doing this,’ she says, ‘and it has transformed my life.’
Twool will be at the Chelsea Flower Show this year at the top of Eastern Avenue. A friend of Kim’s has crocheted poppies for Chelsea and vegetables for twool’s stand at The Edible Garden Show at Alexandra Palace from 28 to 30 March.
My second entrepreneur, Sue O’Neill, was, in her words, ‘a frustrated London balcony gardener’ who escaped to the Cotswolds five years ago, to a charming cottage with a large, neglected garden. Gardening became a passion, but she was less enthused by the penetrating damp, the wet knees and the insidious chill. What was needed, she thought, was some serious performance clothing for the all-weather gardener.
Research led her to ‘technical’ clothing for tough outdoor activities. Her next tasks were writing the business plan, generating the finance and coordinating the sources of supply. The company, Genus, was launched in August last year. It currently has a range of three garments in various sizes for women and for men: a soft-touch gardening jersey, a windproof gilet and high-performance gardening trousers made from lightweight stretch nylon. Among many excellent features, the trousers have damp-proof seat panels, neoprene-lined knees and stab-proof pockets for knives and secateurs. Sales are going well – customers love the trousers – and Sue has plans to expand the range and exhibit at Chelsea in 2015.
Twool: 01364-654467, www.twool.co.uk and Genus: 01285-740004, www.genus.gs