Hartley Magazine

All the latest news, hints, tips and advice from our experts

Written in United Kingdom

PR: Companion Planting & One Very Special New Introduction

It’s going to be quite a year for the ladies at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show with show gardens designed by Anne-Marie Powell, Jekka McVicar, Rosy Hardy and for Hartley Botanic’s 1st ever show garden it’s Catherine MacDonald who will be at the helm. Hartley Botanic MD Johnny Mobasher has long been a fan of […]

Press Release: Companion Planting & One Very Special New Introduction on the Hartley Botanic Garden

It’s going to be quite a year for the ladies at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show with show gardens designed by Anne-Marie Powell, Jekka McVicar, Rosy Hardy and for Hartley Botanic’s 1st ever show garden it’s Catherine MacDonald who will be at the helm. Hartley Botanic MD Johnny Mobasher has long been a fan of […]

The Philadelphia Flower Show 2016 – America celebrated.

If you are a greenhouse owner in the northeast you should treat yourself – take a trip to the Philadelphia Flower show. What makes it spectacular?  The show is held in early to mid-March when there is very little in bloom outside of the greenhouse. Many of the prizewinning plants are grown by enthusiastic greenhouse […]

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Gardening is good for the soul by Val Bourne, our gardening expert in England

Gardening is good for the soul, everybody says so, but greenhouse gardening is the equivalent of a luxury spa treatment for you and your plants, where you are cosseted against the worst of the weather.  A cool spring day, one that makes you tighten your scarf and shudder, suddenly becomes thoroughly pleasant. No wonder I […]

A Classic Courtyard—Why this oldest of garden designs still works today

If you’re a gardener like me, who read The Secret Garden as a child, the longing for a place of enclosure was planted early. Of course, a greenhouse is one of the best ways to satisfy our desire for an indoor/outdoor life-among-the-plants kind of space. Another is a courtyard. I was reminded of this recently […]

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Valentine treat: Mid -Winter in a Greenhouse

Deer tracks in the snow show where a hungry buck gazed wistfully through the glass at the tasty-looking green plants inside your greenhouse. Squirrel and rabbit tracks betray the presence of other wistful watchers that would envoy your greenery even more than you. That’s why they’re called greenhouses – because in winter they remain green […]

Timing is everything: in life and in seed starting

In February, a gardener’s fancy turns to starting seeds under lights: cabbages that can be transplanted into the garden in early spring; the earliest annuals, such as violas and snapdragons; and those that take a really long time, like petunias. Even if you have a greenhouse, you’ll need a light setup to give most plants […]

Written in United Kingdom

Press Release: Hartley Botanic to Donate Stunning Chelsea Flower Show Opus Glasshouse to the Horatio’s Garden in Glasgow

As soon as The Chelsea Flower Show closes its doors to the public on Saturday 28 May, the work of disassembling the beautiful gardens, trade stands and horticultural displays begins.  The Main Avenue Hartley Botanic Show Garden takes more than three weeks to construct and lovingly plant but only a few days to disassemble. Hartley […]

If it Fits, it Chits—Sprouting Seed Potatoes in the Greenhouse

Jump-starting vegetables in your greenhouse celebrates the beginning of the year’s growing cycle. But potatoes? I hadn’t considered them as greenhouse candidates until I read the new 35th anniversary edition of my go-to edible book, Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades by Steve Solomon and co-authored this year by Marina McShane. Now why would I […]

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Propagating Geraniums – A Fun February project

If you’ve ever brought geraniums or pelargoniums into your greenhouse at the end of summer, you probably know how leggy the plants become in winter’s low light levels. Come spring, you can cut back these plants significantly to get them started anew, but the initial result is an ugly brown stem visible in your hanging […]