– Brand New & First In The UK – Better For The Environment Hartley Botanic have always been innovators in Greenhouse and Glasshouse technology. They were the first[1] to bring UK gardeners aluminium Greenhouses and Glasshouses and have pioneered unique developments including a ‘clearspan’ design, the elimination of glass to glass or glass to metal […]
There’s an Instagram-fueled boom in houseplants today, which means I’ve come back into fashion for a while. This tends to happen to me every few decades if I just keep doing what I’ve always done. I come from gardening people, who tend also to be houseplant people. Even in the middle of winter, we’ve always […]
Exciting new plant introductions come on the market every year. And yet, how do we, as home gardeners, know what’s real and what’s fakery, put up by fraudsters who will prey on our desire to grow the latest offering? Wouldn’t that purple-leaf tropical vine look great in the greenhouse? How about a pink-flowering weeping willow? […]
I usually write ‘you need a warm greenhouse for such or such a plant’. Annoyingly in this genus the species you really want, well they really need a hot tall palm house to succeed. Amongst the most impressive displays coming from the tropics the majority of Heliconias are awkwardly a bit on the large size […]
Early October is the time to check that your glasshouse, so it is ready when temperatures drop. Pick the last of your last tomatoes, sweet peppers and chillies and ripen them on a sunny windowsill or in a paper bag with a ripe banana or pear (the already ripe fruit will produce ethylene will ripen […]
Towards the middle of the month, you won’t be able to escape from the pumpkin! They’ll be festooned outside shops everywhere and, by the end of October, they’ll be blackened by candle soot and perched limply on walls, following the Halloween revels. We think of this festival as an American custom. However the tradition of making […]
Gardens are made of memory: of people, places, plants and all that nature offers us in such bounty that we do our best to hold it close in our personal spaces. This September, as I look out on my start-up prairie, formerly known as the front lawn, I remember a person who had more impact […]
Our greenhouse has produced its first melon! In fact we have two, from our three plants…but never mind that shocking lack of productivity. We are delighted with ourselves anyway. Melon growing in the UK is clearly not going to be keeping any wolves from any doors, but it is still a thrill to have produced […]
In New England, heating a greenhouse in winter makes the difference between being able to grow citrus trees or tropical herbs and flowers versus growing only plants that can tolerate cold and even an occasional freeze. For many greenhouse owners in northern climates, growing the tropical and semi-tropical options is just too tempting. This means […]
Are you confused about compost? Jean Vernon unravels the mystery If you watched the ITV documentary last month about garden centres, you could be forgiven for being confused about compost. In fact compost is one of the most misunderstood subjects in gardening and that’s mostly because of what we call it. There are two totally […]
The other day I almost picked a quince. It was an incidental quince: The Japanese flowering quince shrub it was growing on had been planted for stunning coral-and-white spring flowers, not for fruit. However, the plant hadn’t gotten that memo and had developed half a dozen substantial, apple-like fruits anyway. Unfortunately, the shrub wasn’t mine, […]
At this back-to-school season, it’s time to study—what gets an A in your garden and greenhouse, and what rates an F? Take notes on both the perfect and the problem areas. Then you can hunt for plants that fit into these two categories. If, say, your foxgloves were a glory, find more for next year. […]
