“We’re losing biodiversity globally at an alarming rate, and we need a cornucopia of different plants and animals for the planet’s health and our own.”
Diane Ackerman’s great quote reminds us that the race to rewild is truly upon us, and one London-based company has been playing its part in this important narrative and movement for over a decade.
Seedball is a multiple award-winning not-for-profit organisation, which was developed with the aim of boosting biodiversity and helping to increase native wildlife.
As conservation scientists with PHDs in the discipline, the founders – Emily and Ana – are on a mission to help increase the abundance of British wildflowers and the array of wildlife that depends upon them.
Co-founder Emily explains the idea behind the company: “We believe that if we can all better use whatever space we have available to us (whether a back garden, balcony, window box, little patio etc.) together, we can have a hugely beneficial impact on our local ecosystems. The last 50 years have seen huge declines in pollinators and other garden wildlife, but we can do something to reverse this. For us, we want Seedball to inspire a wildlife gardening revolution while providing a very handy way of going about it!”
No Gardening Experience Necessary
The company is making it possible for everyone, including people with little to no gardening experience, to create wildlife oases by simply scattering the Seedballs onto the ground or into pots. Not only this, but they are also committed to working with a wide range of organisations, charities, and schools to help spread the word about the importance of it.
Seedball is part of Project Maya, a non-profit social enterprise working to inspire more people to grow native wildflowers from seed to help support bee, butterfly and other garden wildlife populations. Each year Project Maya donates seed balls to hundreds of schools and community groups to help support their nature projects.
The unique products Seedball produces are balls made of clay and peat-free compost containing 30 – 100 seeds per ball, and a touch of chilli powder to deter slugs and snails. The wildflower Seedballs come in mixed or single variety packages that are developed to help reverse the decline in pollinators and garden wildlife.
Multi-Award Winning
With great successes over the years, Seedball has previously been awarded the prestigious ‘Gift of the Year’ title, been a winner at PEA, Garden Retail Awards and Great British Growing Awards, and have featured on ITV and Channel 4 to spread the word about the unique and innovative products on offer.
And it’s not just these awards and appearances that Seedball has as accolades. The products are now stocked in over 500 stores nationwide, including Kew Gardens, The Natural History Museum and Dobbies garden centres, as well as online.
Seedball offers a wide range of seed varieties, as well as gifting options and gift sets like a hedgehog mix and Happy Christmas seedboxes, as well as a new ‘Grow Wild Flowers’ t-shirt launched in 2021.
The Limited Edition LOVE tin set of four wildflower seed ball mixes – a bee mix, butterfly mix, urban meadow and share mix – was launched earlier this year and is proving extremely popular. The tins have everything needed to grow a mini-meadow in any type of garden, balcony or window box, each containing 20 seed balls bursting with UK native wildflower seeds.
Seedball has also recently launched a Love Bees Gift Set, which is perfect for bee-lovers who want to add a buzz of life to their outdoor space. Each tin contains 20 seed balls (each with approximately 75 seeds) bursting with UK native wildflower seeds, including Birdsfoot Trefoil, Foxglove, Red Clover, Viper’s Bugloss and Wild Marjoram, as well as a sprinkling of pollinator-friendly annuals Chamomile, Cornflower, Corn marigold, and Night-flowering catchfly.
Follow the brand on Instagram and blog at Seedball.co.uk to keep up to date with their plans, new product launches and to be part of the Seedball community.
