Sustainability

 

We are building the nursery carefully and improving the way we use materials, water and energy as we grow.

Growing plants has an environmental cost.

Heating, lighting, water, growing media, packaging and transport all use resources, and some of the plants we grow begin their journey thousands of miles from the UK.

We do not think it is useful to pretend otherwise.

Our aim is to build Fullness of Time around practical choices that reduce unnecessary waste while still producing healthy, well-established plants.

Propagating closer to home

Some of our original mother plants are sourced from specialist growers overseas.

Where possible, our long-term aim is to establish those plants in the UK and propagate future stock here.

A single imported mother plant can, in time, produce many generations of locally grown plants.

Growing with purpose

We do not aim to produce plants as quickly as possible simply to move them through the nursery.

Healthy mother stock, reliable propagation and strong root systems come first.

Better-established plants should also have a better chance of adapting successfully to their new homes.

Growing media

We are continually testing growing methods and substrates with plant health, water efficiency and material use in mind.

Where practical, we favour reusable or lower-waste growing systems and will continue reviewing the materials we use as the nursery develops.

Packaging

Live plants need protection in transit, but packaging should not be excessive.

Our aim is to use recyclable, reusable or responsibly sourced materials wherever they can do the job properly, while keeping plants secure during delivery.

As our shipping volumes grow, packaging design will continue to be reviewed and improved.

Waste

Propagation naturally produces material that cannot always become a saleable plant.

Where practical, growing media, pots and other nursery materials are cleaned and reused rather than discarded after a single use.

Energy

Controlled growing requires heat and light, particularly through the British winter.

As Fullness of Time grows, energy efficiency will be considered alongside production capacity when we design growing spaces and choose equipment.

Our longer-term aim is to reduce unnecessary energy use and make greater use of efficient growing environments and renewable energy where practical.

A work in progress

We are building Fullness of Time from the ground up.

That means our methods will evolve as we learn, grow and gain the ability to invest in better systems.

We would rather be honest about that journey than make claims we cannot substantiate.

Small improvements, repeated over time, matter.

In the fullness of time, everything grows.