Green Bug Ltd - Blog from a greenhouse builder

Back to Somerset

13/8/2021

Great to be back in Somerset to complete the relatively small "Mike" greenhouse (2.8m long by 2.2m wide).

Another week of absolutely perfect weather in which to build this accoya greenhouse. The roof windows were working perfectly in the heat - opening and closing throughout the day.

Even the hand-lathed finials on the roof are made entirely from accoya - so the whole greenhouse is guaranteed for 50 years even if you do decide not to keep up the painting (which should last 10 years between touch-ups anyway).

We moved a large trough onto flat ground around the back of the greenhouse and I diverted the drainpipe into it. My customer's next job is to add good soil into the raised beds inside and move the potted tomatoes inside.

Horsham, West Sussex (nr. Brighton)

7/8/2021

A beautiful, and very large, garden this week and I've been asked to build a "Mark" greenhouse right in the middle of some really nice established beds - it was a tight squeeze getting the materials and mixer in among the plants.

The "Mark" greenhouse is 5m long by 3.5m wide with quiet large cold frames either side of the porch. My customer has also asked me to build a brick sided raised bed along the inside wall - great for growing tomatoes without having to worry about watering them too much. Rather than having a flagged floor I'm laying small concrete setts throughout the inside.

It's hard to imagine how it's going to look when you just lay the battens on such uneven ground. There were many tonnes of soil to remove from inside to get everything down to a level point - thankfully the soil was quite easy to dig out and the ground was solid with a decent amount of clay to build the foundations up on.

There was so much rain on the 3rd or 4th day starting at around 2pm and going right through to 9:30 when I finished for the day. I managed to carry on working by digging out and laying foundations for the internal wall and cold frames outside. Finding a large tree root took some of the time too.

A few infill cuts to make to complete the floor and then brush in kiln dried sand to lock it all together. I'll do that when I return in a few weeks to build the greenhouse structure.

Back to Teeside

23/7/2021

Amazing, scorching hot weather again all week. I was careful to leave out a few panes of glass whilst working in the heat - to give myself some breeze - and worked on into the cooler evenings to make up for all the times I ran to hide in the van to cool down.

This is the "Tim" greenhouse (4m long by 3.5m wide) built entirely in accoya with a 50 year guarantee. My customers chose the colour anthracite for the paint finish. The aim was to build a greenhouse which seems in place with the house and other buildings around it and we were all pleased with the end result.

Somerset

15/7/2021

This isn't a big garden, and there are a few neighbours, so we want to maximise the space but not build within 2m of the boundary so we don't get any planning issues. I'm building a "Mike" greenhouses - 2.2m wide by 2.8m long - but it's tall with a 2m high door and 45deg pitch roof so it's very spacious inside.

My first, of two, visits here is to build all the base - and the grounds was really hard going with loads of rubble. Thankfully, this rubble will make a useful base for pathways elsewhere in the garden so I bagged it up for use later.

My customer has asked for raised beds on both sides of a central pathway this time.

Now back to the workshop to build the front elevation and order up the glass. I'll return in a couple of weeks with the accoya structure, glass and shelving and complete the installation.

Building an arched bridge for home

2/7/2021

We have a small stream in the back garden, which occasionally becomes a raging torrent taking water off the mountains behind us.

I needed to replace the rotten bridge and wanted to build an arched brick bridge. I've used engineering bricks - it's probably too red for this garden but the plants and moss will soften it over time. The bricks need to be tough and water resistant to cope with heavy water flow at times though.

The first job was to dig down to the water level and lay two concrete slabs as foundations for the brickwork. These slabs are probably bigger than they need to be but, again, always better to play safe and over compensate.

I then built a timber frame to support the brick archway and the concrete pathway in the centre - before covering with soil and laying grass seed.

There is about 7 inches of concrete in the path - laid in 3 layers with rebar and mesh added. I waited a month before removing the formwork.

.....and we put together a little video of the project too.

A "Tim" in Teeside

25/6/2021

Scorching hot weather this week - and ground I had to pick axe throughout - but refreshing rain just as soon as I had finished all the brickwork - PERFECT TIMING!

This one is the popular "Tim" option - built from accoya and measuring 4m long by 3.5m wide with a 2m wide porch.

That's the base done. I'll return in a couple of weeks or so with the completed top and all the glass and shelving.

Ethan Ross Marathon

20/6/2021

THANK YOU so much everyone who supported my marathon run for Ethan. It was hoped that a few thousand would be raised for Welsh Air Ambulance and Young Minds charities - but at the last count £75,000 raised.

It was a great day with the whole community coming together with Paul, Helen and Callum in memory of their son Ethan.

I'll be running again next year - and will be aiming to improve massively on this year's very slow performance. I want to shave 1 hour off my time.

You'd have thought I'd won judging by this picture. I was actually near to the last - but what a welcome from the folks in St Asaph.

Update from Nov 2020

16/6/2021

Thank to my customer Stuart for sending me some photos of his greenhouse now that the garden is finished and in bloom.

One of the biggest challenges were the different levels in the garden.

I've included a couple of small "before" photos so you can see the difference. If you want to read the blog entries for this please click on the links below.

Building the base blog entry

Completing the greenhouse blog entry.

Hi Robin,

I hope all is well with you and you’re enjoying the sun.

When we last spoke in the winter when you completed our greenhouse, I promised that I would send some photos of the complete patio path area and flower beds around the greenhouse. Most of the flowers you see are grown from seed and bulbs from the greenhouse so it’s already providing some yield, and although not in full bloom yet it’s certainly giving a taste of what it’ll look like in the height of summer.

Thank you again for all your amazing work Robin. We absolutely love our greenhouse and it very much completes our garden.

Warmest regards,
Stuart

Back to Shropshire

4/6/2021

I had a great time at Paul and Debbie's this week building a "Jill" greenhouse on top of the base I'd struggled to build on their sloping ground. The weather was fantastic so I just plodded on each day - before returning home for one evening after the autovents I had ordered months ago eventually turned up (****** Brexit!).

Click here to read the base building entry.

This greenhouse is entirely made from Accoya and has 5 windows around the side and 4 auto opening windows in the roof.

This one is slightly wider than usual (2.8m wide) so it still feels very roomy inside even when all the shelving has been added. I made one of the rafters from 4x2 with a heavy horizontal support - beefing up the structure just because of the extra span.

Ethan Ross Marathon

20/5/2021

On Sunday 18th June I'm running a marathon - and supporting my friend Paul who tragically lost his son last year. Paul and his wife Helen put together this marathon to honour their son Ethan. All money raised is going to the Welsh Air Ambulance and Young Minds charities. If you are able to donate, (even a little bit gives them a boost), there is a link below.