I don’t think I’ve ever met a piece of gardening equipment quite as stylish as the Woolly Pocket. For a couple of years since I was first completely wowed by them, I have been longing to have one of my own, and when I moved to a flat with a balcony a few months ago, I decided it was time to get hold of one for myself from Garden Beet.
Woolly Pockets are made from recycled plastic bottles, but they feel wonderfully, well, woolly when you pass your palm over them. This is a Wally 5 , which has five lined pockets which you fill with soil and plants. They work beautifully indoors and outside as the lining does not allow a drop of water to pass through. The whole thing is quite extraordinary: a much more stylish windowbox that stretches the whole length of my balcony.
The pockets hold a great deal of soil, though they lie flat against the balcony. The whole thing is so very smart and gives my rather humble balcony a glittering lift.
Because the pocket is black, I decided that the most effective thing to do would be to fill it to the rafters with plants that have interesting foliage as their main feature rather than flowers. The plain, smart pocket provides a perfect foil for curly kales and intricate ferns, and the use of only two main colours is rather striking.
I have used three Hart’s tongue ferns (Asplenium scolopendrium), one of which is the frilly-edged variety (Asplenium scolopendrium ‘Cristatum’ (Angustifolia)), and two Korean Rock Ferns (Polystichum tsus-simense), all of which are from Gardening Express. There are also four curly kale plants, Rhodanthe ‘Paper Star’ (which I know has flowers, but they are white, and they’ll cheer me up in the early spring), a ginger mint, a small Veronica, and an oregano plant.
I have really packed the plants in as well to give the pocket the strongest punch possible: the curly kale won’t be around for ever, though, which means I can add a new plant with exciting foliage in the summer.
One of the really useful things that the pocket does is add a tiny bit more privacy to the balcony. By stretching a thick black band across the balcony, it cuts off the sightline from the flat opposite, so I can’t see my neighbour when she’s having a cheeky glass of wine on her balcony, and she can’t see me when I’m loafing on the sofa watching rubbish TV.
And the best thing? Whenever friends and family visit, the first thing they say is ‘wow’. Yes, Woolly Pocket, you are extremely welcome…
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linda penney
What a lovely read not sure where i could put one i have to get my thinking cap on they look lovely and a lovely read as allways
Sue
What a clever idea. I like the softness of the material and the dark colour which contrasts brilliantly with the green foliage. Trailing nasturtiums might be rather stunning in the Spring.
F&F
oh, hadn’t thought of trailing nasturtiums! Fab idea. Sadly not for this woolly pocket though as the balcony only gets full sun early in the morning and late evening, and the pocket faces away from the sunlight as well, hence the ferns, although the kale is happy in it. But if anyone else is growing with a woolly pocket, I want to see pics of trailing nasturtiums asap!