Catherine MacDonald, garden designer, tells her Chelsea 2016 story. Having been involved with many show gardens & trade stand gardens over the years this is her first solo design working with Hartley Botanic.
The peat-free message is finally being broadcast far and wide – but it’s gardeners and growers, rather than the gardening media, who are doing the telling.
I’ve been on a bit of a healthy eating binge these last few weeks. It probably started after a pretty nasty illness I picked up on my travels, which left me particularly under the weather. Having wasted away for a few weeks (! Yes really), and then left craving for sugar and sweet things, I […]
I’ve been sowing vegetables in the greenhouse this week, going by my usual method at times of high intensity sowing, which is to say: one thing at a time. I concentrated on sowing five different courgettes on Monday, put in a second lot of peas on Tuesday, sowed some radishes in a quick tea break […]
This competition is now closed – thank you for all the wonderful entries. The winner was Lucy Underwood, and the runners-up were: Elena Grace Harrison, Ebony Scott, Jasmine Price, Katie Underwood and Saara Hussain. As we have entries being submitted in a variety of ways for our current Butterfly Awareness Children’s Colouring Competition, we decided […]
The Hartley Botanic Garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2016 – Introducing Opus Hartley Botanic has been exhibiting beautifully planted trade stands at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show for close to sixty years, but for 2016, MD Johnny Mobasher is taking it to another level with a Main Avenue show garden designed by Catherine […]
An extremely architectural glass-house and house-plant is Yucca elephantipes, the Spineless Yucca or Palm-lily. This is a closely related species to Adam’s Needle (Y. filamentosa), the hardy Yucca of the open garden. Don’t worry the Palm-lily does not have such cruelly pointed leaves. There is still a vestigial point to each but nowhere near as […]
In northern parts of America greenhouse owners are just now starting tomato plants from seed ready for the new season. Under lights on the heat mat I have some fifteen varieties growing. These will be transplanted into larger pots until they are ready for my garden and the gardens of friends. But often tomato varieties […]
For greenhouse owners and gardeners in the Carolinas and Georgia, here is some disturbing news: Some tomato plants in Beaufort County, South Carolina, have recently been infected with late blight disease, the same highly infectious scourge that caused the Irish potato famine in the 1840s. Tomatoes and potatoes are related species, both belonging to the […]
This competition is now closed. Thank you to everyone who entered. The lucky winner was Jane Hatch of Worcester. Do you fancy attending the world-famous RHS Chelsea Flower Show? Then you’re in luck! We have a pair of day tickets for Friday 27th May to give away, which would enable you to explore the most […]
April is an ideal time to lift and divide bamboos, grasses and clumps of herbs that have grown too large, this keeps them within their allotted space and maintains vigour. Divide them carefully by pushing two forks back to back into the centre of the clump then pushing the two handles together to prise them […]
One of the most famous botanic gardens in the world, and one of the largest tourist attractions in the UK, Kew Gardens is home to the planet’s largest collection of living plants. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, was formally established in 1759, and is now one of the few gardens placed on the UNESCO list […]
