When I left my other house I left a little greenhouse. It was only about 10X 15 and under a deck. It didn’t have much light and I used a heater to keep it warm with florescent grow lights.
I need a place for my non-native and non-hardy plant obsession which my place didn’t come with. I have several New Zealand plants, a red banana, orchids and clivas that will certainly need a home sooner rather than later.
Why not design a greenhouse? I though I could give it a whirl so I started out with a base of concrete block. It was set out and partially filled with concrete mix for stability.
Then off I went to a couple of places that reclaim building materials to look for some old windows. Ballard Recycle and Reuse had some great windows and a good storm door. The windows were $5.00 a pane and the lovely green door with brass knobs and kickplate for $45! Restore, a Habitat for Humanity store, is another place that has some great windows. I don’t have enough windows to do the entire greenhouse yet so we installed them on the bottom section. I used 9-mil plastic to cover the rest of the greenhouse. When I get some more windows I will replace the plastic as I go.
I did spend a little money on the roof. Sunlite panels and rafters gave some room for the banana, the old greenhouse always struggled to contain the leaves. They would keep growing even with the little bit of winter light.
I had some tables from the old greenhouse that I reused in the new one. A couple of lights and a fan will also hang from the rafter with a new heater in the back. There is circulation from a window beneath the heater and the door with and screen door panel.
Eventually I will be able to put some rock on the sides of the greenhouse with mortar. I will have time to make it pretty later for now it is functional.
