Grow Your Own Magazine

I was offered a greenhouse by a friend of my mums which i was thrilled about. i knew there would be some cost for glass etc but i dont think i realised how much!
it is pretty old so i needed to get new insulating tape and glass clips, bolts etc. there were a few broken panes of glass and we broke a few more trying to take it apart. i just got back from the glass shop today... £86 in glass! not to mention having to pay someone to help me take it down and put it back up because there is no way you can do it alone. finally, throw in a few tablespoons of blood lost to glass! arg! cant wait til its finished!

Good luck with it! I took apart an old argos wardrobe a few months ago and have created a cold frame and a greenhouse using polythene and perspex! It's rewarding creating something where there was nothing before.

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Vegmonkey and the Mrs. - vegetable gardening in a small space in Cheltenham at www.vegmonkey.co.uk

Hope you are soon up and growing with your new greenhouse Leona!

We've had 2 second hand greenhouses in the past 12 months, one for plot1 (10' by 8') which has probably cost us about £75 for glass and fittings, and a second 8' by 6' for the back yard (currently awaiting errection once Mr D's dad has come and built us a brick base for it - he's a brickie!), which will have cost us about £25 to sort out! Fortunately with their being 2 of us we've not had to pay for any help in dismantling or errection!

If we'd had to buy them new, then there's no way we could have afforded them, as prices for glass greenhouses are probably a factor of 10 higher than what we've so far spent, so without the second hand option we'd not have either of them!

Plus of course getting second hand means that we've saved them from being skipped, so in a way we've reduced the amount of landfill, much greener to us!

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Blessings
Suzanne (aka Mrs Dobby)

'Garden naked - get some colour in your cheeks'!

The Dobby's Pumpkin Patch - a blogspot work in progress!
Last updated 26th November2008 - more new piccies!

I know it is a lot of money, but Focus often have 6"x10" greenhouses on offer for about £140. I was always concerned about buying a second hand one as I never bother to take my time dismantling it and I would be lost trying to rebuild it as a result. Having said that, our new one had no istructions with it and shirls showed me how to put it together quite efficiently! Must be her logical womans touch I suppose.

Incidentally, we used 4" breeze blocks for our base with a small gap between them - yet to be filled. What is best expanding foam (not very environmentally friendly) or cement? The first is easier and the latter means me making up some shoring to stop it oozing out everywhere until it goes off. I can build an engine or a jukebox... But a wall.... uh uh!

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Big silver bird, come land low and slow
Cut your engines, cool your wings,
You've taken me home...

www.honeyjukes.co.uk

i dont have enough bricks to put completely round the base so im going to fill the gaps with soil i think....

Max, just go easy on the water.

Make a stiff cement, that won't slump.

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Always thank people who have helped you immediately, as they may not be around to thank later.
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Can't you leave the gaps for ventilation?

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Hazel
www.hazelandjanesallotment.blogspot.com
update Sun 30/11/2008......Indoor Allotmenteering too!.....

and slugs

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Catch up with my daily doings at http://kaypeesplot.blogspot.com/ and http://kaypeeslottie.blogspot.com/

And frosty winds in winter.

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And when you're back stops aching,
And you're hands begin to harden.
You will find yourself a partner,
In the glory of the garden.

Rudyard Kipling.

How can that be, when their 6'x6' greenhouses are about £350! I know as I'm looking to buy one at the moment and B&Q are the cheapest...but also the most annoying - have you ever tired top find anything ont he B&Q site - impossible and then you go into the store and the grrenhouses they have on the shelves are one price and then when you ask where the glazing is and to check the prices they quote you something else.

I spent 2 hours on the phone today ringing round practically every B&Q in Fife / Edinburgh / Dundee and Aberdeen looking for polycarbonate glazing and got quoted a different price at every store and also a different timescale for ordering and delivery. I also got told that the glazing had been discotinued and then when I called the same store back about 10 minutes later to ask something else they told me they actually had some PC in stock...then they called me back saying they couldn't find it - Just a complete nightmare.

Luckily I've managed to track some down in Aberdeen and my partner can pick it up tonight and hoping he can pay what they quoted me on the phone as it's £40 cheaper than the stuff they apparently stock but can't find in Dunfermline!

I've been trying to get a 2nd hand greenhouse for 2 years now but had absolutely no luck...so saved up enough to buy one...I just hope that when I get the frame, the base, and the glazing home, all the bits are there and they fit together nicely...I've heard some complete nightmares about important bits being missing and having to wait weeks and sometimes months to get them in order to complete putting a greenhouse up.

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Was lucky enough to get my 8' x 6' for £20 (and a bottle of wine!) off ebay. OH very carefully dismantled it and then rebuilt it here. Bless! Only broke one pane of glass - but then he was very careful! What would I do without him? Bernie
PS Nick - you were right - it isnt big enough!

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Appreciate the little things in life because one day you will realise they are the big things

I would love a second greenhouse, moved the current 6'x6' from the old house to this one when we moved.

TOH is sulking about the amount of garden I have 'wrecked' with veg - so I somehow doubt he would agree to me getting another - even if it was only to replace the current one with a larger version!

I got my greenhouse from one of the sisters at work, it belonged to her late father and they had no plans to use it so were happy to let it go to a loving home!

Costs:
£10 for petrol for 2 trips to Bury st Eds to dismantle and pick up.
£3.50 for a pack of W clips
Got perspex to replace broken panes off freecycle from a village just down the road.
Lots of bad language and bloodshed while dismantling and rebuilding.
A few quid spent on a thank you present for Liz (wine) and her mum (a hosta for her garden).

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I'd rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself than be crowded on a velvet cushion.

http://hollandsroadparadise.blogspot.com
updated 14 May 2008

www.bradleyroundtwo.blogspot.com

Eskymo, our local Focus have glass 8'x6' greenhouses for £199, plus extra for the base, so maybe yours does to. Could be worth inquiring about them.

the maximum size I can fit into my garden is 6'x6'

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and they're £349 from the local Focus here...

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and Mice !!

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ntg

Never be afraid to try something new.
Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark.
A large group of professionals built the Titanic

http://grief-encounters.blogspot.com/