British greenhouse and glasshouse manufacturer Hartley Botanic is celebrating a landmark 80th anniversary. The Lancashire-based business (founded in 1938 by brothers Vincent (RHS fellow) and Norman Hartley), has made its beautiful, handmade and bespoke aluminium greenhouses and glasshouses for 80 ‘trusted’ years, working from the same artisan factory beneath the base of the dramatic Pennines’ Chew Valley. Its history as a business and the provenance of its carefully crafted garden structures are the inspiration behind its RHS Chelsea Flower Show trade stand, and will be symbolically mirrored in displays which tell the historic stories of plants well known to British gardeners.
Hartley Botanic’s 2018 RHS Chelsea trade stand will feature four of the manufacturer’s handmade greenhouses and glasshouses, as well as a limited edition structure commissioned to mark its 80th anniversary.
West Lancashire-based garden designer Lee Burkhill (the Garden Ninja) will design the stand, along with landscaping delivered by Gareth Wilson of Derbyshire’s G.K. Wilson landscape services. It is Lee’s first time designing for Chelsea after winning the BBC’s 2016 Feel Good Garden competition at RHS Hampton Court with his Manchester-themed Show Garden. Landscapers G.K. Wilson are multi Royal Horticultural Society award winners with a legacy of medal-worthy gardens across the RHS’s various flower shows, including Golds at RHS Chatsworth and RHS Hampton Court last year.
Tom Barry, Managing Director of Hartley Botanic said: “The stand will challenge visitors to take a second look at plants they are hugely familiar with. To gain a deeper appreciation and respect through learning about well-known plants’ provenance and history. In the same way, our 80th anniversary this year draws attention to the history and heritage which lies behind a modern Hartley Botanic greenhouse. Aesthetically, our horticultural structures are incredibly beautiful, but it is the 80 years of engineering expertise, craftsmanship and enduring commitment to artisan production which reveals their true quality and worth.”
Lee Burkhill, the stand’s designer added: “We are thrilled to have been chosen to design Hartley Botanic’s 2018 Chelsea stand, and I am particularly pleased to be working with one of the North’s best landscapers. Gareth and I will be looking to ‘break the mould’ this year with our combined design energy and plant enthusiasm, creating something that’s a true feast for the senses!”
www.hartleytbotanic.co.uk