Welcome to Hartley Hardware & Garden on the World Wide Web!

If you live in Oakdale, you probably already know us. We're the store with the wheelbarrows and bags of potting soil out front, the popcorn machine by the register on Saturdays, and the bell on the door that's been ringing since 1962. If you need a bolt, a bag of grass seed, a key, a gallon of paint, or just some advice on fixing that leaky faucet, come on in. We'll help you find it.

Now you can find us on the Internet too! Check back here for our monthly specials, coupons and seasonal tips.

• Key Cutting - House keys, padlock keys, mailbox keys and more, cut while you wait.
• Paint Color Matching - Bring in a paint chip, a piece of wallpaper, a swatch of fabric, even a coffee mug, and our computer will match the color. Interior and exterior paints, stains and all the brushes and rollers you need.
• Window & Screen Repair - Broken window pane? Screen torn by the dog? Bring it in and we'll fix it, usually in 2 or 3 days.
• Small Engine Repair - Lawn mowers, tillers, trimmers, chain saws and snowblowers. Dad has been fixing them since before I was born.
• Propane Tank Exchange - Swap your empty 20 lb. grill tank for a full one. No waiting.
• Tool Rental - Lawn aerators (great for fall!), tillers, post hole diggers, ladders, carpet cleaners, and more. By the half day or full day.

My grandpa, Walter, opened Hartley Hardware in the spring of 1962 in the same brick building on Main Street where we are today. Back then it was just one room of nails, tools and paint, and Grandpa did everything himself: stocking shelves, cutting keys, fixing screen doors and delivering bags of lime to farms in the back of his pickup.

My dad, Dale, started sweeping floors at the store when he was eight years old. He took over running the store in 1984 and added the garden center out back, the small engine shop and the rental department. Grandpa says he's retired, but he still comes in most mornings for coffee and to tell customers how to fix their screen doors.

I'm Amy, and I'm the third Hartley to work behind the counter. I learned how to cut keys when I was ten! I built this web page this summer while I was home from college. Now that I'm back at school, Dad e-mails me the new specials and I put them up from the computer lab.

1. Overseed in early fall. Late August through September is the best time to fill in thin spots. The soil is still warm, the nights are cool, and there are fewer weeds to compete with. Rake or aerate first so the seed touches the soil, then keep it damp until it comes up.
2. Feed your lawn. A fall fertilizer helps the roots store up food for the winter, and your lawn will green up faster in the spring.
3. Keep mowing. Don't put the mower away just because it's fall. Keep cutting as long as the grass is growing. For the last mowing or two, lower the blade a notch.
4. Rake those leaves. A thick layer of wet leaves will smother your grass over the winter. If you only have a few, you can chop them up with the mower instead.
5. Plant spring bulbs in October, before the ground freezes. Put them in pointy end up. Tulips and daffodils go about 6 to 8 inches deep, crocus about 3 to 4 inches.
6. Put the mower away right. Add fuel stabilizer or run it out of gas, change the oil and sharpen the blade. Or bring it in and we'll do it for you.
7. Before the first hard freeze, disconnect and drain your garden hoses and shut off your outside faucets so the pipes don't burst.

Lots of folks have been asking. We have flashlights, batteries, lamp oil, camp stoves and water jugs in stock. We sold out of generators this summer, so please call ahead to see if a new shipment has come in. Most of this is good to have around for a winter storm anyway!

Worried about your home computer? See our neighbor Ray at Precision PC Repair. He's the one who got our store computer on the Internet so I could make this page.

• Oakdale Tigers Little League - our favorite team!
• Precision PC Repair - Ray fixes computers just around the corner.
• Carol Anne's Bookkeeping & Tax Service - upstairs from the bakery. Grab a donut on your way up!
• Backyard Birds of Wisconsin - I found this page and loved it. We carry bird seed and feeders too!
• The Henderson Family Home Page - another nice family page here in Heartland.
• GeoCities.us Heartland