Remember this lovely greenhouse picture from last spring? The one where I said I'd emptied, cleaned and disinfected the interior before putting on a fresh coat of paint? Well, it doesn't look that nice right now.
I finally confronted my fear of power tools and decided to remodel things to make the space more useful to a barely-five-foot-tall (after I've been to the chiro) amateur gardener. All that unusable space under the benches just collected trash and I couldn't reach the far corners at the end without climbing onto the bench. So... I remodeled.
Warmish greenhouse or icy, windy yard?
Rocky knows which is better!
Rocky knows which is better!
This bench has worked really well so I just drilled holes in it for water and potting soil to fall through. It also works well for securing a jig saw and holding fuzzy "helpers."
The big bench is history, trimmed to a shadow of it's former self but still wide enough to hold a milk jug or Buster sprawled in the corner. I drew his chalk outline (with space for growth) to be certain. Nothing in the greenhouse was square, and I'd never used a jig saw before, so I went with a wave pattern based on an old CD I found on the floor.
I see no reason a greenhouse can't be girlie.(Jig Saw work completed.)
The medium size bench was OK but too deep for me to make use of the floor underneath so I'll be affixing expanded steel bases into the holes. There's a small area at the end, which you can't see, for setting tools and things on a solid surface. With the holes I'll be able to see what's below and maybe use the floor to over-winter plants like peppers and chiles. The dead looking things are habaneros. Might have gotten too cold in there before I found the heater but we'll see. The idea is to keep them alive, but dormant, until they can go back into the garden.
And here is the door end. I put the soil on the floor to help with the water problem, drilled some holes in the floor too, and put as many tools as I could above my head. The lantern is LED so it gives bright light without any risk.The ultimate plan is to have soil on the floor and a thyme walkway down the center. I'll be able to directly grow lettuce and other things AND have space for potting up, setting teacups, and growing starts.
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2 comments:
Good on you April, not only a more functional space but more attractive too. One question though: I assume the floor is concrete but aren't you concerned the soil down there will hold moisture around the walls and cause rot?
It's a plywood floor, Anon, but the plan is to eventually replace the entire structure so the bottom should fall out about the time we're ready to build. I removed about 6" of soil from over the outside base last spring and there was no evidence of rot whatsoever. It would appear it's made of sturdier stuff than most of the construction here. (Must have been a kit.)
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