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Rescued plastic covered Greenhouse

38 comments


I bought a plastic covered walk in green house several years ago. The cover was starting to get tatty so when we saw replacement covers at a bargain price we bought one. Unfortunately the winter snow, and weight of a clematis which it knocked on top of the greenhouse, finished off the frame. It was mild steel tubing connected by plastic joints. I was left without my little house and a spare cover without a frame. My OH had lots of plastic plumbing pipe and joints so he offered to make me up another frame. Here are the results. I am delighted with my new version and he says if the cover goes again he will go to Wickes for some of that plastic sheet and screw it on.


The frame had a peaked roof so he made that up first then it was just a case of cutting long straight pieces to form the width, length and height. We tried the cover on and it was short of the floor by about 4" so the uprights were shortened to accomodate that. It was reasonably simple to erect and cover. Now we must wait and see how it fares in a high wind. I used the original stays to hold the cover down because the replacement cover did not come with new ones.

This is set on the east side of the house. It is in the 2nd bay of the north end of the pergola next to a hose pipe connection for ease of watering.

Next door to it on the south side is a small raised herb bed with lovage, sage etc.


There is a lot of tidying to be done in this area.

I had already planted up 10 hanging baskets and 5 wall pots so i am busy doing the rest of them now. Because of the danger of frost I will keep them undercover for a few weeks yet but that will allow the plants to fill out. I was not going to plant these with annuals again but I succumbed to temptation when I saw some nice healthy begonia sempervirens and lobelia in Aldi.

I am using old cheap bookcases made of plastic which I bought many years ago out of Argos as shelves.

17th May 2011
I am very pleased with the way these have filled out.Assoon as the wind drops I will get them out in to their flowering positions.

Another view of my baskets. The new greenhouse has proved it can cope.

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Comments

 

Well done to both of you. Looks great. I havent planted my tubs & baskets yet.

20 Apr, 2011

 

Very resourceful of you both...and it looks perfect for the job too.

You have a lot of baskets ready now and just have to wait for everything to burst into growth....bet they'll look so pretty all hung out a bit later in the spring/summer.

20 Apr, 2011

 

3 Cheers to your OH Scotsgran - what a resourceful man he is. I bet the frame he has made will be a lot longer lasting than the other one. Hope everything grows OK in it.

20 Apr, 2011

 

Thank you all. I don't know what I would do without him. It should all grow all right Mariek, already the plants in the first baskets planted have almost doubled in size . I would warn people against planting baskets and pots outside this early because a sudden sharp frost could kill them all. I have so many to do that I am trying to get a head start. I do think Garden Centres tempt people to buy bedding plants too early and then the garden needs to be planted again later at great expense. I had to stop him taking it all apart to install a higher barrier at the entrance doorway and a couple more up rights each side of the door.As long as it lasts like this until the end of May when it should be safe to put everything outside he can have it back to redesign to his hearts content. I am chuffed to bits with it. I'm sure it will last a lot longer than the original. I offered to let him build another as a potting shed but he does not have enough elbow joints so that was a no no.

20 Apr, 2011

 

Isn`t it great to have other halfs that can do, this is brilliant and one that I and OH might pinch as our frame like your old one is decidedly wonky. Its so good when others share their ideas, Thanks Scotsgran.

20 Apr, 2011

 

Thank you Stroller. You are welcome. I have seen so many good ideas and been given lots of good advice since coming on GOY. Our old pipe cost nothing because he has had it for at least 20 years and was in a load of stuff he bought from the scrap yard with something he did want. It is not metric or we could buy more joints. It is the equivalent of 1.5" I think and is pretty rigid. It would be suitable to screw things to it. It would make great cold frames covered in Triwall plastic sheet. There are long pieces of 6" pipe whichI have been threatening to plant with carrots to have a go at the longest carrot in a Veg show. One day!!!!

20 Apr, 2011

 

Well I think that mini greenhouse is fab. S.gran, tell you hubbie he gets ten out of ten for that, brilliant, and boy you have been busy, those hanging baskets!! I counted almost 20! Phew.

20 Apr, 2011

 

Thanks Grandmage. Only 18 and 5 wall pots. You will be giving my OH a big head but in truth I have been giving him 10 out of 10 for 48 years past March 30th. You would not believe he did not even service his car when we got married. He had a Sunbeam Rapier and it went to the sport car service department regularly. He is an engineer and says what he learned at school stood him in good stead later in life. Since he retired at age 60, 22 years ago we have never stopped. It keeps us young. There is always something needing maintenance and of course he is a radio ham and loves building aeriels. We had to buy 22' high scaffolding to cope with one of them. We got the NFH 3 years ago and it has taken us a long time to try and come to terms with what has happened to us and our home since they moved in, but now we have decided that they pinched our view and our privacy they are not getting our lives too. We try not to talk about them but I slip up now and again. All that election garbage coming in through the door saying how respectful of peoples rights those political parties are. Who do they think they are kidding. Anyway i am busy and happy today so no need to worry about them.

20 Apr, 2011

 

I love this Scotsgran! People can be so resourceful when things need done, or invented!! Good for your OH! Bet it'll last a lot longer than your previous one! Finished just in time too, by the looks of all those fab baskets! You've been hard at work too, be great to see them in bloom!!

20 Apr, 2011

 

Oh S.g. how awful for you, no-one needs NFH! I am sorry but keep strong and carry on with your wonderful gardening, as you say 'it keeps you young', bless. Do you know I wouldnt vote for any party if I had a choice, I trust not one of them. Keep up the good work, your garden is your refuge.

20 Apr, 2011

 

Thank you both. One day at a time GM. I will post photos of them when they are up. I used to use wire baskets, but gave up on them. The solid ones are a lot less hassle. I put water retaining crystals and 6 month plant food in before planting up and they will look after themselves except for a drink now and again. I do have a glass and aluminium greenhouse too but find this little one very handy. It is like a walk in cold frame.

20 Apr, 2011

 

That is a great idea and certainly looks stronger than the oriiginal frame, well done hubby, you certainly have a lot of baskets Scotsgran, bet they look a picture when in bloom.......

20 Apr, 2011

 

Thank you Linclass. i'll post a picture when they are in place. Everything is growing like a weed just now. we have had a really mild spell and some rain.At least half of my potatoes are up already. It is hard to believe we can still have severe frosts at night.

20 Apr, 2011

 

I like a bit of recycling! It's my excuse for squirreling away all sorts of things that "may come in handy" sometime (some never do!) but, like you, we have found old bookcases to be invaluable for storage in the shed after doing duty as faux-greenhouses once. We set two back to back and covered them with the large plastic cover that had been protecting a new settee during delivery, held down the loose ends with chunks of rock, and planted up inside! Instant garden!

21 Apr, 2011

 

That was a great piece of recycling Nariz. I actually bought these bookcases from Argos to make shelves in my glass greenhouse and because they are light they get hauled from one to the other as needed. My sister has a chain link fence which did not give any privacy so she got some old pallets and hey presto the hanging garden of Scotland She lined the insides with plastic sheet and filled them with soil. She then planted lavendar across the top and pierced holes to put in allysum etc. She has hanging tomatoes going in this year and she has a few hanging strawberries.
OH has got some nice long much thinner pipe which I reckon would bend and with a cover over would give plants temporary shelter. Carrots etc which need to be protected from carrot fly or cabbage white butterflies could be excluded easily with a fleece over the piping. He used a lot of this thinner piping to pipe water to strategic points in the garden where I can just plug in a hose.They run along the top of the pergola and down the upright posts to make them easily accessible.

21 Apr, 2011

 

Excellent job Scotsgranddad!!! I think between us GOYers we could write a book I001 Garden Projects From DIY Leftovers!

21 Apr, 2011

 

Are you offering to edit it? Great idea and the proceeds could be used for charity.

21 Apr, 2011

 

If I knew where to start I would.

21 Apr, 2011

 

LOL!

21 Apr, 2011

 

Ten out of ten to OH from me too! If only I had a husband like that instead of 'Barney Bodger'! Only joking, love, if you happen to read this . . . ..

21 Apr, 2011

 

Thank you Shirley. I'm sure Barney gets 10 out of 10 for lots of things.
Sue click on R and then 'recycling in the garden' there are a whole load of things on there that are fantastic ideas. Somebody is already doing the editing on GOY.

21 Apr, 2011

 

Very clever. It's nice to be able to make things for oneself :o) I'm sure it will last longer than the bought ones ...

21 Apr, 2011

 

Thank you, I hope so too Hywel. We are waiting to see what happens when we get a fierce west wind. That will be the true test of how it will fare long term. At the moment we are listening to the eerie sound of foghorns down in the Firth of Forth. The wind is from the east and it is blowing the fog well inland.

21 Apr, 2011

 

I hope it clears soon. Fog often happens this time of year. I think it's eerie lol

22 Apr, 2011

 

The funniest thing happened the first time we were on the ferry to Hamburg. As we went up the river we could hear the fog horns. All of a sudden our National Anthem starting playing from the shore. Soon after we heard a different anthem. A fellow passenger explained that the Hamburg Port Authorities provide this as a welcome and farewell jesture to ships from all over the world. It is something we look forward to when we travel that way.

22 Apr, 2011

 

Ok had a look now my mind is working overtime!

22 Apr, 2011

 

It is mind blowing is it not?

22 Apr, 2011

 

That was nice of them :o))

22 Apr, 2011

 

I have added two more photos to show how my baskets have fared since 20th April.

17 May, 2011

 

They've really filled out haven't they .... :) Will you be puting them out soon ?

18 May, 2011

 

I will Hywel.It is very windy here at the moment so it is impossible to hang them up but I might just put them out in some sheltered place without hanging them until the wind goes down a bit. I am really pleased with how they have filled up. It was a cheap solution using only begonia sempervirens and trailing lobelia. Both will survive if I am neglectful of them.

18 May, 2011

 

It's been windy here too. Not this morning though. I hope it opens out layer on.
I have bedding plants in pots but only one basket. I've put petunias in it. Beryl likes them and she kept telling me they'd look nice - so I bought some to please her lol. I put it out in a sheltered spot by my shed a few days ago. It seems all right.

18 May, 2011

 

I love to see baskets of petunias but every time I have tried to grow them they get covered in sticky black mess. I still have some bedding plants which I had as spares but I don't appear to have lost any so I will put them in somewhere else.

18 May, 2011

 

Mine get into a sticky mess aswell but I got them because Beryl likes them.

18 May, 2011

 

There are people who seem to have no problem with them and their baskets or pots look wonderful but I do not know how they do it.

18 May, 2011

 

I wonder ? Maybe they use a spray

19 May, 2011

 

I guess so. I think having to spray and kill things is creepy.I prefer to keep away from all that if possible.

19 May, 2011

 

I only use a weed killer sprey - and then it's on tough weeds. I don't use spreys to kill insects. I try to wash the sticky stuff off the petunias usually, but it always comes back lol

19 May, 2011

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