It’s hard to understand the extent of the climate crisis when we are surrounded by beautiful gardens and immersed in nature. But that’s because many of the changes are subtle or distant or even gradual. But it’s happening on our watch, under our noses and before our eyes. It’s easy to think that you can’t […]
If there’s one thing a Hartley Greenhouse allows you to do, it’s to go forth and propagate! And in these financially stressful times, that’s a boon because you’ll be able to create your own bit of Mediterranean magic, by raising aromatic plants from cuttings. And you’ll be able to pick your own fresh herbs, from […]
This month is when a productive greenhouse starts getting busy. We’re sowing trays of onions and leeks and starting off onion sets, potato sets likewise (in much bigger pots!). In the warmth of a propagator extra early batches of tender crops can have been sown already though often surpassed by batches sown now of: cucumbers, […]
There are two important jobs for the greenhouse at this time of year. From February onwards, it’s time to sprout (or ‘chit’) first and second early potatoes and sowing tender, long season crops like tomatoes. Gardeners’ ‘chit’ potatoes so they are already growing when planted, – it’s a chance to get ahead. The technique is […]
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, […]
Well. Here we are. Our shiny pearl in the heavens has successfully completed another revolution around the sun, to the accompaniment, not of Richard Strauss’s Also Spake Zarathustra, (you know… 2001, Hal the Computer), but to a cavalcade of hit lists for 2023’s upcoming trends. Top of the recommendations appears to be for glass to […]
In this increasingly stressed and stressful world, we need to nurture the healing balm of gardening in the slow lane. A year ago, I decided it was time to go slower in my garden. I vowed to favour unhurried over haste, swap frantic for sedate, and make slow gardening the nemesis of fast. It might […]
Have you ever heard about straw-bale gardening and wondered what it entails? The answer is more than just stacking straw bales to make windbreaks or taking them apart and using the straw for mulch. Straw bales are far more versatile. They can be used as a base for growing plants in a greenhouse. But when […]
Mention wildlife to most gardeners and they will go gooey eyed over hedgehogs, Jenny wrens and thrushes. However, their survival relies on complex food webs involving creatures that gardeners aren’t quite a keen on! Hedgehogs, for instance, have small mouths and a snout, so their preferred foods during the summer months are beetles, caterpillars and […]
This year I am actively planting for hope. I’ve decided that the only way to offset all the doom and gloom on the news is to make small but powerful steps that will make a difference not just to me but to the garden and the greater environment too. Focus on the positives Everything we […]
It is hard not to fantasise about summer during these dark days, particularly when one of the very few jobs that really needs in the greenhouse doing propels you forward to the warmest days of the year. Right now not a lot needs sowing, but chillies do, their season so long that if they are […]
