How to Design a Simple Greenhouse
Gardening is among the top hobbies in the U.S. With health concerns and the escalating costs of imported vegetables, growing food in greenhouses is becoming more than just a hobby for many people. Constructing a simple greenhouse is not as difficult as some might think. You can erect a functional greenhouse without construction expertise or expensive kits, just using an eye for creative solutions as well as a willingness to experiment. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Lawn pavilion
- Thick plastic sheeting
- Scissors
- Heavy-duty glue
- Zipper (optional)
- Shovel
Instructions
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Determine the type of greenhouse that best suits your needs. Your greenhouse can be either attached to a building, which could be your garage or even your house, or it can be a free-standing structure. An attached greenhouse is easier to construct, though it will get less natural sunlight. A free-standing greenhouse, while being less in the shade, requires separate electricity, water and heating systems.
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Define the materials that you'll use for your greenhouse. While this article offers a given set of materials for a particular design, you are not limited to those in the design of your greenhouse. You can make the greenhouse's door and window frames out of wood, aluminum or galvanized steel. For covering, you can use glass, fiberglass or plastic. If choosing a glass or fiberglass covering, however, please be advised that you'll need to make a permanent foundation for your greenhouse, which will add a degree of complication to your greenhouse design.
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Erect a sturdy lawn pavilion's frame in a wind-protected and sunny area of your garden (for a free-standing structure; otherwise, choose where space permits). The ground needs to be reasonably flat, although the flexible nature of your greenhouse will allow some irregularities.
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Use the lawn pavilion cover as a pattern, cutting clear, thick plastic sheeting to match the size and shape of the cover's pieces.
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Assemble the plastic cover with a heavy-duty glue.
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Cut an extra panel covering the area between the uprights around the door panels. Hang this fuller panel over the door panels to create a kind of an airlock. Alternatively, you can glue a heavy zipper to the door panels of your greenhouse so that you can secure it closed.
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Cover the frame with a plastic cover.
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Use a shovel to pile dirt around the bottom edges of the cover in order to keep the wind out. Tamp the dirt down.
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References
- Photo Credit desolated greenhouse image by Kostyantyn Ivanyshen from Fotolia.com
