Botanical Dye Garden

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Dyes used in a mainstream fashion are created using suprising levels of toxic chemicals and synthetics, that have a significant impact on biodiversity and human health, causing over 20% of global water pollution. In contrast, natural dyes can be produced from a wide range of flowers, plants, hedges and trees in the UK and when used correctly, can produce vibrant, colour-fast dyes. Wool takes natural dyes beautifully, so together they offer the opportunity for a sustainable, homegrown source of fibre and colour, which can underpin a healthy, regional textile economy.

Much of the current production of natural dyes is done in other parts of the world, perhaps notably in India, Pakistan, Japan and various African and Asian countries where the skills involved have been retained to some extent. Reviving a natural dye industry in the UK is currently being attempted by pioneers with little living cultural activity to draw upon. Our current master dyers can trace their craft back to the first practitioners who tried to revive the craft including William Morris and Ethel Mairet. However, beyond growing small dye gardens for their own needs, commercial growing, maintenance, harvesting and processing of dye plants has been in the main, a neglected activity in the UK. My journey to understand how to grow, harvest and process the pigment from dye plants for yarns will be helping to support the revival of this important craft.

 

Our beautiful dye garden is a joy to explore if you are curious about how to grow colour for textiles, free from synthetics or toxic chemicals. We have over 800 dye plants in the garden, including Madder, Weld, Dyers Chamomile, Marigold, Tansy, Woad, Japanese Indigo, Saw-wort, Rhubarb, Lady’s Bedstraw and Wild Madder. We also have a “dye hedge” - 42m of hedging plants chosen specifically for their ability to dye without mordants using the bark - the species are Berberis, Purging Buckthorn, Birch, Black Alder and Walnut.