Hartley Magazine

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

A Paean to Flower & Garden Shows

When I was six years old, living in a small town in Pennsylvania, the local garden club put on an indoor flower show with display gardens created on the gym floor of the YMCA. I was entranced by the artifice—little picket fences surrounded neat plots of flowers, bordered by sod pathways, and festooned with glass […]

Using Biological Controls in Your Greenhouse

A while ago a gardener asked me what my greenhouse’s greatest insect problem was. I answered whitefly, which is a terrible nuisance that can easily get out of control. That conversation got me thinking about the Sisyphean task of trying to eliminate my whitefly infestation by spraying infected plants with Safer’s Insecticidal Soap. The more […]

Written in United Kingdom

All hail hazel

Support, sustenance, shading, shelter… the humble native hazel is a sustainable, renewable powerhouse. Some plants possess superpowers. Corylus avellana, our native hazel, is one of them. It’s abundant here, growing serendipitously in and around my garden, and in the neighbouring wood. I have never deliberately grown it, and only occasionally relocate a jay-sown shrubling popping up […]

Written in United Kingdom

It’s time to dump the toxins

It’s hard to understand the extent of the climate crisis when we are surrounded by beautiful gardens and immersed in nature. But that’s because many of the changes are subtle or distant or even gradual. But it’s happening on our watch, under our noses and before our eyes. It’s easy to think that you can’t […]

Written in United Kingdom

Some Mediterranean Magic

If there’s one thing a Hartley Greenhouse allows you to do, it’s to go forth and propagate! And in these financially stressful times, that’s a boon because you’ll be able to create your own bit of Mediterranean magic, by raising aromatic plants from cuttings. And you’ll be able to pick your own fresh herbs, from […]

Written in United Kingdom

‘Chit chat’

There are two important jobs for the greenhouse at this time of year. From February onwards, it’s time to sprout (or ‘chit’) first and second early potatoes and sowing tender, long season crops like tomatoes. Gardeners’ ‘chit’ potatoes so they are already growing when planted, – it’s a chance to get ahead. The technique is […]