Please note: this giveaway has now ended. Thank you to all who entered, and well done to Chase Darnall – our winner. What are your plans for celebrating Thanksgiving this year? Here at Hartley Botanic it is one of our favorite times of the year, and so we decided it was a great time to launch […]

Walls, terraces, paths, steps, soil, compost, wildlife habitats… second-hand and spoil heap slate can give you the makings of an entire garden. Bar the dreaming and hard graft, my garden owes its existence to an ancient and, given its dour demeanour, quite magical ingredient. It’s very tangible, and it’s very heavy. Its straight lines run […]

Most of us have tried to grow an avocado (Persea americana) tree from seed. Although an avocado plant can be grown in any large, indoor room, it’s also does well in a heated greenhouse. Both heat and humidity must be kept fairly high for an avocado tree to thrive. To grow an avocado from seed, […]

Where would we be without water? I recently returned from California, where I got a sobering look at the possibilities. The drought there is a wakeup call for all of us—even in places like Chicago or the East Coast that aren’t suffering right now—to think hard about how we use this precious resource. There are […]

It’s always fun to grow at least one plant that makes visitors ask, “What is THAT?” Right now the horticulture trade is deciding which new offerings will appear in your retail garden center next spring, or in the seasons to come. This year I got to play a part in that process. I was one […]

Tropical herbs need warm temperatures to keep growing year round, making them perfect plants for a greenhouse that’s heated during winter. I grow ginger, galangal, and lemon grass in my winter-heated greenhouse and use them to make delicious Thai food. Here’s how to cultivate each of them. Ginger (Zingiber officinale) There are several different types […]