An Englishman's Garden Adventures
For the last 10 years the greenhouse has been used for growing produce: tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, aubergines, melons, strawberries. Although this has been very successful and productive it has also required a great deal of work. I am ready to …
Here’s how I grew 30 Charentais melons in a narrow greenhouse bed just 5 ft long and 1 ft deep. Charentais are a fragrant variety of cantaloupe or musk melon, bred in France in the 1920s. Typically they are more difficult to …
I’m using the staging and shelf at the north end of the greenhouse to grow a range of ornamentals, including fuchsias, ferns, hosts, pansies and plectranthus. For the most part they are watered from the automatic drip system which makes looking after …
I’ve planted the greenhouse with tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, aubergines and some hot-house ornamentals. Trying to cater for all of their needs is tricky: the tomatoes need good air circulation to avoid fungal diseases, but the aubergine and cucumber like a humid …
6:00 am. The view from the house this morning. Extraordinary quality to the light. The rain clouds have only just lifted a chink and the sun is sneaking under, low, acute, glancing. The greenhouse greets the dawn. The white lavender is shining in …
This year my greenhouse is full of promising buds and strident foliage thrusting up from marbled terracotta pots – delightful even before the main display bursts forth. Last summer this greenhouse bed was full of cucumbers, peppers, melons and egg plants. …
A Well Designed GlasshouseJudicious use of brick and timber has created a greenhouse with a timeless quality and solidity. Why choose a lean-to style? A lean-to style greenhouse is one that is built against a wall. The benefits of this …
The roof is glazed with large 4mm toughened glass sheets that sit neatly between preformed ridges running down each rafter. Powder coated aluminium capping is screwed down into the rafters, holding the glass in place and sealing them with rubber …
Why paint a cedar greenhouse? In my case it was mainly for aesthetic reasons. It fits in with the style of the rest of the garden and, I believe, gives it a more substantial look akin to the great classic Victorian greenhouses.
Long planks were staked in place to create an edging to contain the bricks and base materials. A length of DPC was used to protect the outside edge of the wood from wet soil in the beds.