Hi everyone, I have just joined this group and have enjoyed a good couple of hours reading many of the threads and the helpful advice given.

I would like to have a 'place' in my garden to where I could retreat. I want to take my time planning and end up with somewhere that serves all purposes; potting shed, greenhouse etc probably getting my end design made up for me.

The trouble is I have never had a greenhouse and I don't know what are essential features and which are money wasters. Although I am very keen, I don't have a lot of money to spend. I would love to have somewhere large enough to be comfortable and entice me in during the dark winter time.

Have any of you advice or experiences that I could benefit from?

"Sadie" wrote in message
...

Hi everyone, I have just joined this group and have enjoyed a good
couple of hours reading many of the threads and the helpful advice
given.

I would like to have a 'place' in my garden to where I could retreat.
I want to take my time planning and end up with somewhere that serves
all purposes; potting shed, greenhouse etc probably getting my end
design made up for me.

The trouble is I have never had a greenhouse and I don't know what are
essential features and which are money wasters. Although I am very
keen, I don't have a lot of money to spend. I would love to have
somewhere large enough to be comfortable and entice me in during the
dark winter time.

Have any of you advice or experiences that I could benefit from?


--
Sadie

I'm not sure thats easily sorted in one building, since a greenhouse is
going to be too cold in winter, and a snug potting shed, too dark, and one
of those sheds with a slanting wooden front IME is not up to much when it
comes to growing more than a few plants. Get one of each :-)

--
Tumbleweed

Remove my socks for email address

In article , Sadie Sadie.1f9cbp@n
ews.gardenbanter.co.uk writes


The trouble is I have never had a greenhouse and I don't know what are
essential features and which are money wasters. Although I am very
keen, I don't have a lot of money to spend. I would love to have
somewhere large enough to be comfortable and entice me in during the
dark winter time.

Have any of you advice or experiences that I could benefit from?

Whatever size you get will be too small ;-)

You will need opening windows as it will get very hot and you will need
air circulation - automatic window openers are good as there will be
spring days when it just doesn't occur to one that the greenhouse is
getting too hot.

Other than that, you'll want to consider somewhere to sit, arm chair if
possible, electric light, heating to extend the growing season into
winter, a radio - and I find a solar powered one is excellent 'cos
there's plenty of sunlight in a greenhouse.

It's also convenient to have plenty of work space for potting things up,
and therefore storage space for bags of compost and spare flower pots.
And somewhere for a few tools and reference books.
--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

I built mine and it's still the most amazing architectural achievement known
to man, you can keep yer pyramids. It's 13 x 6 x 6 to 10 tall, biggest I
could squeeze in. Cost me £700, would have been £3.5K commercially. But go
for the biggest you can because it's vast in winter and then in spring you
fill it with seedlings and each seedling then demands an acre of its own and
your greenhouse shrinks down to a jungled nothing in summer. I used
twinwall plastic for the roof, which holds in the heat for reasonable
cosiness in winter, with automatic vents for summer heat.
Make sure you have electricity multi socket for propagators, lights, fans,
lawnmower, I have cctv cam. And think about water too, I have a butt on a
nearby roof which gives rainwater on tap, otherwise you'll be lugging
watering cans about twice a day, and make sure the door is big enough for
your wheelbarrow.
:-)
Jon

"Sadie" wrote in message
...

Hi everyone, I have just joined this group and have enjoyed a good
couple of hours reading many of the threads and the helpful advice
given.

I would like to have a 'place' in my garden to where I could retreat.
I want to take my time planning and end up with somewhere that serves
all purposes; potting shed, greenhouse etc probably getting my end
design made up for me.

The trouble is I have never had a greenhouse and I don't know what are
essential features and which are money wasters. Although I am very
keen, I don't have a lot of money to spend. I would love to have
somewhere large enough to be comfortable and entice me in during the
dark winter time.

Have any of you advice or experiences that I could benefit from?


--
Sadie

"Oxymel of Squill" wrote in message
..

..And think about water too, I have a butt on a
nearby roof which gives rainwater on tap, otherwise you'll be lugging
watering cans about twice a day.

I prefer to have the butt sited in the greenhouse - this has lots of
obvious advantages.
It can be fed from a nearby gutter downspout.

Pete
www.thecanalshop.com

"Sadie" wrote ...

I would like to have a 'place' in my garden to where I could retreat.
I want to take my time planning and end up with somewhere that serves
all purposes; potting shed, greenhouse etc probably getting my end
design made up for me.

The trouble is I have never had a greenhouse and I don't know what are
essential features and which are money wasters. Although I am very
keen, I don't have a lot of money to spend. I would love to have
somewhere large enough to be comfortable and entice me in during the
dark winter time.

Have any of you advice or experiences that I could benefit from?

I had to make my own greenhouse due to space constraints, but the design
fixtures and fittings will, to some extent, depend on what you want to grow
in your greenhouse. There is some difference between what summer tomatoes
need and what tropical orchids need.

Keep a separate potting shed for potting and keeping the "stuff" and the
greenhouse for plants only. So many greenhouses turn into sheds, and not
being able to have a proper one myself it really bugs me. :-(

Position the greenhouse towards the northern edge of your property so the
light reaching it is under your control and not dependant on your southern
neighbour not planting a 20ft high hedge leaving you with a greenhouse for
ferns only. Seen it!
You want roof vents and low down louver vents both of which can be
automatically controlled, which I recommend. This will allow a chimney
effect in the hot sun so keeping the greenhouse cooler and with the
automatic openers would not be dependant on someone being available to open
them.
Electricity is a good idea too for heating in the winter and/or the spring
planting season. Either use a heater with a built in thermostat, or for
better control, one with a separate thermostat.
Whilst it's a good idea to save the rainwater from the roof for watering
plants it's also good to have a ready water supply nearby to supplement it.
Get decent benches for the greenhouse if you wish to grow flowering plants
and a shelf underneath is good for storing those plants that die back over
winter (with pots on their sides to ensure they keep dry).
Most of this equipment is available at http://www.twowests.co.uk/ or
http://kayshorticulture.com/


--
Regards
Bob
In Runnymede, 17 miles West of London

In article , Peter Stockdale
writes

"Oxymel of Squill" wrote in message
..

.And think about water too, I have a butt on a
nearby roof which gives rainwater on tap, otherwise you'll be lugging
watering cans about twice a day.

I prefer to have the butt sited in the greenhouse - this has lots of
obvious advantages.

Don't you get algae problems?

--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

Thanks all of you for taking the time to give such informative answers.
I have about 12 to 15' x 9 to 12' in the North East facing corner of my garden with two 6' walls so I should be able to make two areas to keep shed and greenhouse areas separate, is this just so everything stays/looks tidy?

I do intend having water and electicity laid on so your recommendations about heating and automatic vents will be accommodated.

I am so new to gardening (about 4-5 years) I don't know what I want to grow, so far I have had great pleasure in taking cuttings and I think I would like to have some tender plants that would need overwintering but I work full time and find I can't give enough time to look after seeds properly (although it doesn't usually stop me trying), I want to give everything a go.

I can see this developing over the next few years into an all consuming hobby that will see me well into retirement (not for a few years yet though). I won't be replacing the greenhouse/shed I get now when I retire so I am planning for it to last for at least the next thirty years.

Thanks again to all of you for your advice
Sadie

Kay, this sounds exactly what I have in mind, the armchair and radio set the scene.
Having plenty of working space is something that would encourage me to do more, at the moment I have little propagators and seed trays in all of my windows, which I really get fed up with, and it stops me doing a lot of things.
Thankyou
Sadie

I take your point about water, I will have a tap installed (mainly to fill my kettle) I would like to use a water butt but haven't the experience for the advantages of keeping it inside to be obvious, I can only think of not having to carry the water as far. Does the water in a butt get smelly and stagnant? and wouldn't it take up valuable space inside the greenshouse? sorry if I am being unbearably stupid.

Sadie

"Kay" wrote in message
...
In article , Sadie Sadie.1f9cbp@n
ews.gardenbanter.co.uk writes


The trouble is I have never had a greenhouse and I don't know what are
essential features and which are money wasters. Although I am very
keen, I don't have a lot of money to spend. I would love to have
somewhere large enough to be comfortable and entice me in during the
dark winter time.

Have any of you advice or experiences that I could benefit from?

Whatever size you get will be too small ;-)

You will need opening windows as it will get very hot and you will need
air circulation - automatic window openers are good as there will be
spring days when it just doesn't occur to one that the greenhouse is
getting too hot.

Other than that, you'll want to consider somewhere to sit, arm chair if
possible, electric light, heating to extend the growing season into
winter, a radio - and I find a solar powered one is excellent 'cos
there's plenty of sunlight in a greenhouse.

It's also convenient to have plenty of work space for potting things up,
and therefore storage space for bags of compost and spare flower pots.
And somewhere for a few tools and reference books.
--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"


And a kettle............
Jenny

I take your point about water, I will have a tap installed (mainly to
fill my kettle) I would like to use a water butt but haven't the
experience for the advantages of keeping it inside to be obvious, I can
only think of not having to carry the water as far. Does the water in a
butt get smelly and stagnant? and wouldn't it take up valuable space
inside the greenshouse? sorry if I am being unbearably stupid.


Quick answer from a non gardener. If you have your water butt inside the
greenhouse, it will always be at greenhouse temperature :-)) AND, if you
keep a lid on it, A) The wildy beasties won't get in and B) it should not go
green and nasty :-))

Mike
A non gardener but learning fast from 'her out of doors' and the
patio/path/bed/fence making I am asked to do :-((
(Now a plumber/tiler/shower installer/under floor tile heating
expert/carpenter etc etc)

In article , Sadie Sadie.1fb1fo@n
ews.gardenbanter.co.uk writes


I take your point about water, I will have a tap installed (mainly to
fill my kettle) I would like to use a water butt but haven't the
experience for the advantages of keeping it inside to be obvious, I can
only think of not having to carry the water as far.

Does the water in a
butt get smelly and stagnant?

That's what would worry me. Lots of light and warmth = algae. I'd prefer
a solution of water butt outside and pipe into the greenhouse. Or, as I
do, water butt outside, and just dip the watering can (no waiting around
for trickle from tap to fill can).

Otoh, if you are watering plants in the winter, and outside butt gets
too cold, and you have to leave a can in the greenhouse for a few hours
to warm the water.

and wouldn't it take up valuable space
inside the greenshouse?

Yes.

Whereabouts are you? Do you have hard or soft water? If your water is
really soft, then it'd be OK for watering plants. If it's hard, then you
do need a rainwater butt and use the tap just for the kettle.

If you're piping anything into the greenhouse (electricity, water,
telephone line ...) through a buried conduit, remember to leave a piece
of cord in place along the conduit to make it easy if you ever want to
add another cable.
--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

"Kay" wrote in message
...

Don't you get algae problems?

--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"


No more than in outside butts which I also use.(for outside plants).
This problem is significantly reduced by using dark coloured butts.
My main outside "butt" (5000k gallons) also has a black polythene cover to
eliminate algae totally.

Pete

The message
from Kay contains these words:

It's also convenient to have plenty of work space for potting things up,
and therefore storage space for bags of compost and spare flower pots.
And somewhere for a few tools and reference books.

And a sack of hardened cement to sit on, a tin to keep biscuits in, a
camping stove to make tea, some old cracked mugs with hardened
paintbrushes in, an old mangle and an array of tobacco tins full of tqt.

Oh, and a hammer. You'll never find the Stanley knife 'cos it's dropped
into Shedspace down the back of (Bob's sofa.

HTH

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/