Hartley Botanic has been involved with several community projects over the past few years. Here we will post our involvement with these different communities.
Robin House Hospice
Scotland’s second children’s hospice, Robin House, was opened in 2005. The hospice offers a purpose-built ‘home from home’ with accommodation for eight families from across Scotland at any one time
Four new garden areas at Robin House were officially opened on July 5th 2012 by BBC Beechgrove Garden presenter Lesley Watson and Richard Jackson, Trustee of Greenfingers, the charity that creates gardens for children’s hospices across the UK.
At Hartley Botanic we were proud to be asked to supply a greenhouse for the garden.
Richard Jackson, Trustee for Greenfingers, said ‘we are delighted to have been able to help create the gardens at Robin House’.
We worked closely with the hospice to create outdoor spaces that can be enjoyed by the whole family where they can play, as well as having the space to rest, reflect and remember
Hartley Botanic’s Patio Glasshouse helps the Ysgol Bryn Castell School with their Growing Activities
Hartley Botanic are pleased to find out that the boys at Ysgol Bryn Castell School have been making use of their Patio Glasshouse and effectively growing their own produce. The glasshouse has enabled the raising of bedding plants, seeds and cuttings before moving out to the open land. Anthea Guthrie, a captivating gardening speaker and the holder of 12 RHS medals has been working with the teenage boys twice a week, helping them to build and develop essential gardening skills.
Ysgol Bryn Castell School provides for pupils with a wide range of special educational needs and the boys involved are actively encouraged to delve into the horticultural world. They have been motivated by ideas that Anthea Guthrie has proposed. We think it is amazing that Anthea has been able to turn their worlds around and give them the opportunity to do something different. With 8 acres of land to grow on and construct their own innovative ideas and features, the horticultural beginners are most certainly active. Anthea and the boys will be attending the Chelsea Flower Show in May and are looking forward to showcasing their hard work.
Anthea Guthrie states
“It’s all systems go for our Chelsea Flower Show garden. This week we have sown plenty of seeds in small pots and seed trays to be brought on in our Hartley Botanic greenhouse. We intend to show a productive May 1947 family garden in season, with techniques used at the time. We will not just show rows of heirloom varieties, but a seedbed with young Brussels sprout plants, tomatoes, marrows and runner beans ready to plant out. Having been grown in home- made authentic 1947 newspaper pots and early cucumbers grown on in turf sods 4" square, upside down, covered with an inch of rich earth. Our early potatoes will be earthed up having been grown in a leaf mould heap for warmth. It's nonstop work for us and we are finding the greenhouse invaluable.”
Personal Message from the Horticultural Group at Y.B.C and Heronsbridge,
“Thank you for the fantastic glasshouse, we are really grateful for your help. Every one of us really loves gardening and is really excited to go to the Chelsea Flower Show at the end of May.”
Ysgol Bryn Castell School - update
The Children in Ysgol Bryn Castell gardening group have put their Hartley Botanic Patio glasshouse to very good use over the Summer.
Anthea Guthrie writes:
Bridgend Borough Council invited us to exhibit at the annual Festival at the end of September so we designed a kitchen garden and brought on Brussels sprouts and broccoli plants in the glasshouse. This was our opportunity to show off our skills to the local community and make them proud of us.
To date we have enjoyed thriving beds of strawberries, broccoli, cabbage, sprouts, beetroot, radishes, Welsh onions, all kinds of herbs, spinach both annual and everlasting, carrots, tomatoes, a strange curcurbit known as speckledy swan, pumpkins which are taking over the world, chard and for flowers we grew phlox and sweet Williams grown from seed, chrysanthemums, various sunflowers, a rock garden, a recycled container garden including a boat, roses and grapevines grown from cuttings.
In the Spring we planted ten apple, cherry and pear trees, and made chutney from our own first apple crop in September (9 apples). The kids also made Damson jam.
In September we were shelling runner and French bean pods to dry and save the seed for next year, the girls were excited to find not only white but pink and purple beans. We spread them out to dry out in the glasshouse.
In October we raised funds for a school kitchen garden project in Botswana - we dried off beans, marigolds and sunflower seeds in the Patio Glasshouse, the kids made seed packets and I took hundreds of packets with me to the school in Mochidu, Botswana, where four teachers from my school helped with planting.
The Patio glasshouse is a quality product which will serve the children well for a very long time, so often I see schools using substandard equipment which is flimsy and shortlived and that is such a discouraging thing to new gardeners of any age. Having really good kit, will I think encourage the gardeners of the future to realise that ‘pay cheap, pay twice’ is so true.
Catrin wins ‘Greatest Gardening Prize Ever’
CATRIN Griffiths from Llanelli was presented with £6,000 of gardening products last Tuesday (September 7, 2010) at Wyevale Swansea Garden Centre part of The Garden Centre Group after winning a nationwide charity raffle.
The 34-year-old bought her winning ticket for the ‘Greatest Gardening Raffle Ever’, organised by Greenfingers – the gardening charity that creates ‘magical’ gardens at children’s hospices, at the garden centre.
Martin Phillips, Manager of Wyevale Swansea Garden Centre, which is located on Siemens Way in Llansamlet, explained: “Greenfingers is the Group’s national ‘Charity of the Year’ and we supported it by selling raffle tickets to help raise valuable funds. The raffle was exclusively for visitors to all 120 garden centres in The Garden Centre Group.
“There was only one winner for the raffle and we are very pleased that the winning ticket was purchased at our garden centre. We would like to congratulate Catrin and hope she enjoys her gardening goodies.”
Her prizes include a barbecue, a bench, gardening equipment, a greenhouse, plants and more than £1,500 of vouchers.
Catrin added: “I am thrilled to have won the raffle. It was a great surprise. I am currently living with my parents, so we will be sharing all the prizes. We have a large garden and we grow our own fruit and veg, so the products will come in very handy.”
Greenfingers is dedicated to building magical gardens for life limited children in hospices around the UK according to each hospice’s individual requirements.
Richard Jackson, Chairman of Greenfingers, said: “The tickets sold at Wyevale Swansea Garden Centre raised £3,344 for Greenfingers. I would like to thank everyone involved and all the people who bought a ticket.”
The prizes were donated by a number of businesses in the horticultural industry including Beefeater, Bosch Lawn and Garden, David Austin Roses, Fiskars, Gardman, Hartley Botanic Greenhouses, Hartman, Hilliers, Miracle-Gro and Thompson & Morgan.
Martin added: “Greenfingers is THE charity of the gardening industry and, with the support of growers, retailers, manufacturers and celebrities, it has created 30 
magical gardens at children’s hospices all over the UK with more planned for 2010.”
