Hartley Magazine

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

Back to magazine

At Hartley Botanic we have a good relationship with many knowledgeable garden writers both in the UK and USA – here you can enjoy reading their articles and gardening tips

Call us on

781-933-1993

Or Request a call back

Herbs to Start in the Greenhouse

The other day, I joined my grandchildren’s outdoor school class as they visited a nearby, but remote, Oregon nursery, The Thyme Garden. To get there necessitated an hour-and-a-half car trip, part of it on roads that twisted over the side of Marys Peak, the tallest mountain in the Coast Range of the Siuslaw National Forest. […]

Lavender: which one to grow, how and where?

Spring is in the air on the western slopes of the Rockies, which means nights can still drop to 20 degrees F, but days are warm(ish). Yet our bluebird skies are scattered with fluffy white clouds, and we’re dreaming of gardens to come and greenhouses to fill. Our gardens beckon…as do the nurseries. Yesterday, I […]

Why Didn’t My Seeds Sprout?

It’s seed starting time! Whether sowing vegetables or flowers, gardeners are anxious to get seeds going. But what happens when you carefully sow seeds out in your garden—or in flats in the greenhouse—and the plants don’t show up? This month I’m following the advice of Ed Hume and his son Jeff Hume.  They head up […]

Determinate or Indeterminate; That is The Question

What can be better than going out to your garden, picking a few sun-warmed tomatoes and enjoying them for lunch or dinner? Tomatoes are the most popular garden plant grown in America, but do you know your determinate from your indeterminate? Your heirloom from your hybrid? Or why some tomatoes have VF, A, FF, or […]

Greenhouse Furniture – How to Find What You Need

Let’s say you’ve got your greenhouse. Now, let’s figure out the furnishings. Much depends on how you plan to use it. Is this the space where you will start your early vegetables? Is it going to be home to happy houseplants and your tender tropicals in the winter? Is it a light and bright extension […]

Dark Gardens: Turn off the lights!

This is not about saving electricity, or about embracing solar power to illuminate our lives, but instead it’s about appreciating and enjoying darkness. Luxuriating in shadows, letting the stars and the moon be the radiance that punctures darkness ever so quietly. Especially in the greenhouse and the garden. I’ve been reading and absorbing a small […]

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 […]

Showtime for a Victorian Greenhouse

It’s that time again! From coast to coast, indoor garden shows are offering solace to those who are winter-weary. These exhibitions are bursting with color and fragrance, great plants to buy, and great ideas to take away—especially from the extravagant display gardens that make up the heart of the shows.  And for several years now, […]