The Garden Shedde

Not having room to grow the things you want to can be a problem.  That is one reason you may want to take a look at the mini greenhouses.  They can be placed on many different surfaces including patios, landings and decks, though you will need to make sure the area is level and can handle the weight of the mini greenhouse.  This makes it easy to grow your favorite vegetables, herbs and flowers if you live in the city in an apartment, town home or condo.

If you have more room and want to have a little bit bigger greenhouse you can.  There are several small greenhouses that are also portable and work in smaller areas than the typical greenhouse.  These can be fastened down by using tie down kits but they do need to be placed on a level surface.  If you get the right sized metal racks for potted plants and a rod for hanging plants you will be amazed at how many plants you will be able to place in this small greenhouse.

Some people are naturally inclined or trained in building things and it’s great to take advantage of those skills for things you want around your home.  When going about building your own home greenhouse, you will need to do some research on things from framing to coverings and everything in between to make sure you are doing what you need to be doing.  One thing a lot of first time greenhouse builders miss is the venting, which is a must for a successful greenhouse experience.

Another thing to consider is the efficiency of the greenhouse.  When you purchase greenhouse kits they are built to be very efficient right out of the box with the best frame for the covering as well as having all the materials you need to install and venting instructions and placement.  Basically, after determining the size and where you want to place it, everything to get the greenhouse up is there.  Once you compare ease of use and cost, most of the time a greenhouse kit will cost you less than building your own.  However, the satisfaction of building your own greenhouse may trump cost.  That is a personal choice and both will do the job.

An idea you may want to try in your ever improving and growing garden paradise is the inclusion of little garden rooms.  It’s a simple but brilliant way to create small enclosures and alcoves of your favorite outdoor structures, features and treasures.  You may think that you need a really large garden or yard to do this and that is true to some extinct.  However, you can do less rooms and more focused areas for a smaller yard.

Doing this allows you to gather together grouping of items to make every room perfect for you.  Using one or more small to medium greenhouse kits is also fun so you can incorporate your beautiful flowers in those areas and keep them blooming year round.  It’s wonderful to walk through the snow in the garden and see those colored blooms in the mist of winter.  Just fun and stunning.

I love stores that have a lot of variety around one theme.  Since I love gardening and being outside as well as outdoor living spaces, I was very excited to find an online store that caters to everything outdoors from large items like sheds and greenhouses to smaller items like planters and outdoor furniture and even fences, post caps and finials.  I have been watching the store for several months and finally called the service number to ask a few questions for the blog.  I found out that they are adding to the store over the winter to include patio furniture, more garden accessories, some birding accessories and metal carports and garages as they want to be a total outdoor product and structures store.

I let them know that I was going to come back to the store on an ongoing basis to see what all they have added.  I was very pleased with how helpful they were and the staff was wonderful and welcoming.  I have bookmarked the site and will be going back to BevoWorks.com to shop more often.

Most everyone knows the benefits of using newspapers to cover where you would like to place a garden to rid yourself of weeds, etc.  However, it’s also a great way to establish a floor for the spot you would like to place a greenhouse.

The first thing to do is determine where in your yard you have space that is also level.  Most greenhouse kits will need to be built on level ground.  Then determine how big your green house will be; do you prefer an 8 x 8 or maybe a 12 x 16?  You will need to know that in order to measure out the foundation for your home greenhouse.

Drive a stake in the ground at one corner and measure out your foundation from corner to corner (remember the size greenhouse you are getting) and stake the other three corners and pull the string tight revealing the exact size you will need for your foundation.  Always take a tape measure out and double check the measurements.

Lay out the newspaper (about 6 to 7 layers) to cover the entire area.  You can wet it in a bucket or have a water source handy to spray the paper to stay down as you lay it out.  Once you have it laid out it’s up to you what material you would like to have for a quick foundation.  You can choose an organic material such as mulch or a rock or gravel material.

The main things you will need to watch is to make sure the newspaper is totally smothered and can still get moisture.  You can also use newspapers underneath several kinds of flooring to keep your greenhouse floor nice and clear of weeds and unwanted grasses.

Looking out the back door; what do you see?  Are you one of those people who rewrap your old greenhouse frames with plastic every year?  You keep thinking; next year you’ll look into a more durable, sustainable, efficient covering for that frame that may last more than one season at a time.  If so, this is the time to start thinking about what’s going to happen to that old greenhouse once it has a new skin.

There are a lot of different coverings you can use to replace the old skin, from different plastics to glass.  They come in all shapes and sizes and are shipped from UPS to freight.  You can get one layer or double walled, custom to one size fits all and all you have to do is find the one that fit’s your frame and your budget.

If that sounds too hard, you can cover it again with cheap plastic and replaced it again next year.  It will tear, sweat, leak and mildew just like it always does.  You most likely pay more to cover that frame every year than it would be for a long term solution.  Some guaranteed up to 8 years.  Of course, you may like covering that thing every year.