Hartley Magazine

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

Written in United Kingdom

May is transition time

It’s a busy time in the greenhouse. Sow courgettes, climbing and dwarf beans, chard, beetroot, salad onions and tender herbs including basil and coriander. ‘Harden off’ and plant outdoor pumpkins, melons and tomatoes and courgettes in their permanent positions once the danger of frost has passed. Plant courgettes into organic rich soil, trough slits in […]

Written in United Kingdom

Plant your Penstemons Now

May is the perfect month to plant those slightly tender, late performers such as salvias, penstemons, fuchsias and pennisetums, because they need to develop good root systems before winter arrives. All too often, nurseries sell these late-summer jewels in autumn when they look magnificent. However, there’s not much chance of them overwintering if they’re planted […]

Written in United Kingdom

When’s a tomato not a tomato

Although greenhouse tomatoes have so far seldom been devastated by Blight to anywhere near the same extent as outdoor crops this seems worryingly on the increase. To say little of wilts, rots and the dreaded Mosaic virus. (Interestingly though Mosaic virus infections have decreased with the decline in smoking ie handling tobacco was the source). […]

Written in United Kingdom

It’s time for sowing and planting – spring is here!

Sow celeriac, spinach and turnip in modules early in the month. Use peat free seed or finely sieved multipurpose compost; larger seeds like peas and beans can be sown in straight multipurpose compost. Sow half-hardy annuals including climbers for ornamental outdoor displays. Like all greenhouse grown plants, they need ‘hardening off’ ready for transplanting once […]