It’s time for some citizen gardening: instead of glib media soundbites about using peat-free compost, let’s crowd-source the low-down on what actually works. This spring needs a gardening health warning: there may be ill-judged and unwise information ahead, and we need to be on the lookout for it. Big, positive things will be happening in […]
This winter, we have decided to move the nectarine into the glasshouse ready for spring and summer. This is perhaps not as major an undertaking as it sounds, as the nectarine is a dwarf called ‘Nectarella’ which only grows to 1.5m in height (and can easily be kept even smaller than that). It has also […]
The great advantage in having a Hartley greenhouse is stealing a march on time. It may be a chilly outside, with a biting easterly wind, but it’s always toasty under glass so you can start to sow earlier in the year. If you can keep the temperatures at an ambient 10 -17C, with ventilators or […]
This curious genus of pretty onion like flowers from South Africa will both grace, and scent, your cool greenhouse though perhaps in ways you did not expect. Much grown outdoors in countries warmer than Britain and often along paths in the manner of chives this tuberous family also much resemble those Alliums in having garlic […]
Keep the greenhouse guttering clear of debris which reduces their effectiveness and can eventually block the down pipes. Clean all of your old pots and seed trays ready for sowing in spring. Wash with a solution of environmentally friendly disinfectant like Citrox, rinse, drain and allow to dry. Make sure you have pots and trays […]
The jobs I love doing in the depths of winter in the greenhouse are those that transport me to the height of summer. If I am going to brave getting my hands chilly and have to stamp my feet while sowing seeds, I want it to be for blousy blooms waving in a soft breeze. […]
A deep winter freeze can be filled with challenge, surprise, sadness – and moments of unfettered joy. My tips, and findings from winters past, will help to keep your greenhouse and garden ticking over when temperatures plummet, keep wildlife safe, and keep you cheerful through the bleak months ahead. Snow load Most greenhouses are strong […]
As a busy journalist you get to meet a lot of gardeners and garden lovers and sometimes they make an enormous impact on me, despite the fact that I may only spend a short time in their company. The late Felix Dennis, who passed away in 2014, was one such person. He had built up […]
If there’s a greenhouse on your Christmas list you might need to convince a non-believer in their worth. Jean Vernon helps you state your case A gardener without a greenhouse is a bit like a cook without a stove. Yes you can manage, improvise and still be creative, but the greenhouse facilitates much more than […]
To grow this really pretty bloom year after year you want a warm greenhouse or conservatory as it is tender. (Though to be fair some have succeeded for a while in sheltered sites outdoors.) Long loved in China and Japan the first Golden Spider lily bulbs arrived in the seventeen hundreds on the clipper ships […]
I have been rummaging around for my favourite seeds that can still be sown now, in the green house and outside, so that I can make sure spring is off to a good early start in the vegetable patch next year. Broad beans and hardy peas are the obvious ones, and both real favourites of […]
Daily tidings of impending ecological catastrophe make it hard to stay positive – but gardeners have can-do ways to mitigate the crisis. Down one day, up the next. Gloom and doom gathers, before some light shines in. ‘Why bother?’ worms its way in, and then is cheerily ousted (usually) by a jolt of ‘Yes!’ can-do […]
