Hartley Magazine

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

Prune trees now in preparation for warm weather

It’s getting closer and closer to that time where we need to dust down the trowels, rakes, cutters, mowers and strimmers and tend to the garden after the barren winter months. Jobs such as pruning fruit trees or other woody type plants in the garden can be done now as they need to be completed […]

South African Winter Blooming Bulbs

What can you enjoy in your winter greenhouse that requires little care the rest of the year? In a recent conversation with Scott Canning, Director of Horticulture at Wave Hill– the public garden in Riverdale, New York– I learned about some South African winter-blooming bulbs growing in Wave Hillā€™s conservatory this winter. Since South African […]

Youngsters take pride in community garden

Eight youngsters at the International Flavors Community Garden plot on West 18th Street in Erie, Pennsylvania, have helped clear away their patch for the winter after a fruitful summer. The children worked on the garden through an Erie School District after-school program called Creating Healthy Active Members Planning to Succeed. Garden supplies were paid for […]

Holiday Books for Better Gardening – Itā€™s curl-up-and-read time

Why is it that most garden books debut in February? I have to wait until then for Willy Gallowayā€™s terrific vegetable book, Grow, Cook, Eatā€”A Food Loverā€™s Guide to Vegetable Gardening. Is February the month when publishers assume gardenersā€™ hearts turn to spring? This gardenerā€™s heart is warmed by new books in deep winter, when […]

Four great tips for an alternate approach

Brent Heath of Brent and Beckyā€™s Bulbs makes this claim with a certain pride: ā€œItā€™s always safe to walk in our greenhouses.ā€ Most owners of commercial establishments canā€™t say that. Routine chemical spraying or fumigation of indoor growing spaces means workers are forbidden to enter the area for specific timesā€”from hours to days. But not […]

Itā€™s time to bring in the bounty

Itā€™s time to bring in the bounty weā€™ve grown outdoors and take stock of the season. In that spirit, Iā€™m looking at the most successful new varieties I tried this seasonā€”the majority featuring compact, space-saving qualifications. One of the limiting factors in my gardening space is that Iā€™m compelled to locate plants that deer eat […]

School teaches life skills including gardening

Green-fingered educators at the Fusion Academy are teaching their children core subjects like English alongside long-term life skills such as healthy living through gardening. The school set up an edible garden project to reinforce students' practical skills and help them develop appropriate eating habits. During the summer students planted vegetable patches, which included three raised […]

Heirlooms Survive the Taste of Time

Home gardeners and farmers look to the past and see their future at the National Heirloom Exposition. Heirloom vegetables ā€”those open-pollinated varieties older than 50 yearsā€”have long been treasured by gardeners and farmers alike for their wide-ranging flavors, extended harvest times, and often odd-lot looks. This September, the niche horticultural pursuits of organic practices, seed […]