The Fabulous Home Project

Not So Fabulous Greenhouse

When we purchased our house last fall, one of the things I was most excited about was the back yard -- lots of room for a garden -- and a cement pad that looked like it was just waiting for a greenhouse.

We started keeping an eye out on Craigslist and UsedVictoria for people who might be getting rid of greenhouses and I started researching where to buy greenhouses. By the time February rolled around I was really itching to get something in place for the spring planting season. An inexpensive plastic/vinyl over aluminum frame "Deluxe Greenhouse" caught our eye while at Home Depot and we decided it would do.

Weather was not in our favour for several weeks -- we've had a rougher winter than usual -- but today, at last, we had a few hours of sunshine, enough to open the box and put it all together.

I was pleased to see that no tools are required but in hindsight, I will warn you that brute strength is needed to push some of the connections together. To get to the single page of instructions, I first had to unpack everything from the box.



The instructions were not completely clear (colour-coding would have been nice) and as a result, my first attempt at the base had to be taken apart when I realized I had used size B instead of size C in eight sections. Once I got the hang of it, I asked our daughter to help and she was able to pitch in but it took adult pressure to make sure the pieces fit properly. This became much clearer when we tried to put in the shelves which only fit when all the connections were tight.



Once the roof portion was complete, I had to get the plastic/vinyl cover on. This turned out to be a little like getting a double size fitted sheet on a queen size bed. Eventually, I got it in place and as I tried to secure it to the frame, one of the ties came off in my hand. Not a good start. Next I tied the door area to the frame, splitting another seam. When I finally got around to zipping the door shut, another seam split about an inch. Sigh. Duct tape will be added.


The last step was securing the corners to stakes that go into the ground; I had placed it close to the edge of the pad so that three of the four stakes could be put in the ground, the fourth corner is secured under a concrete stepping stone.


Even before putting it through the paces of holding plants, I wouldn't recommend this product. It was quite difficult to put together and seems flimsy. I have no idea if it will stand up to wind or rain; we should have saved up for a more fabulous greenhouse.

Labels: garden, greenhouse

posted by Unknown @ 10:46 PM