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what's the most anyone has raised their gh

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  • what's the most anyone has raised their gh

    I have my lottie greenhouse frame assembled ...hoorah (from Freegle/no instructions) now going to plan the base as confident all the pieces are there. The greenhouse seems very low - the eaves are about 5 foot high - I am 5ft 9in (and plan to grow very tall tomatoes!)so I would like to raise the gh up. Will this make it unstable? and is it best to use breeze blocks or bricks? I am planting into the soil rather than using gro bags or pots. My posh back garden gh is on slabs so have to use pots etc in that which is ok but gets expensive filling up 40 litre containers.

  • #2
    A wooden frame,site it on edging strips or cut some slabs, keep off the soil,then maybe some long anchors to hold it all down,breeze blox are ok,but the weight of them might sink in the ground,a bit of a solid foundation to sit things on,
    Last edited by lottie dolly; 20-01-2017, 05:41 PM.
    sigpicAnother nutter ,wife,mother, nan and nanan,love my growing places,seed collection and sharing,also one of these

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    • #3
      And reuse your compost to save money....................
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      We hang petty thieves and appoint great ones to public office.

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      • #4
        I raised my 6'x6' Norfolk greenhouse by 11 inches. I laid a course of blocks (9") with a 2"x3" timber on top. It made a huge difference, particularly that I could get in the door without smacking my head. The course of blocks was fixed to the (slabbed) floor with mortar and additional brackets, the timber screwed to the blocks and the greenhouse screwed into the timber. It's at least 10 years old and storm Doris didn't shift it one iota.

        I doubt you would regret it.
        Our England is a garden, and such gardens are not made
        By singing-'Oh how beautiful!" and sitting in the shade,
        While better men than we go out and start their working lives
        At grubbing weeds from gravel paths with broken dinner-knives. ~ Rudyard Kipling

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        • #5
          There are 2 ways you can go about this - either raise the greenhouse or lower the floor:

          1) Raise the greenhouse on breeze blocks or similar. This will give you approx 9" extra height.
          2) Dig a trench/path down the middle of your greenhouse to the depth of your choice, fill the beds with the soil you dig out. This means stepping down into the greenhouse.

          I would imagine the trench would be the easiest to do but both would take a certain amount of physical effort. Another plus with the trench is that it will lift your beds up further thereby less bending.
          Last edited by Bigmallly; 12-03-2017, 09:08 AM.
          sigpic“Gorillas are very intelligent, but they don't have to be as delicate as chimps -- they can just smash open the termite nest,”
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          • #6
            Originally posted by Bigmallly View Post
            I would imagine the trench would be the easiest to do but both would take a certain amount of physical effort. Another plus with the trench is that it will lift your beds up further thereby less bending.
            But will increase the chance of something touching the roof of the GH other than yourself. If that was a REAL problem GH's would be taller though ;-)
            You don't want to be picking above head height its hard work!

            Raising the sides means you will have a 9" non-lit section at soil level which *might* make seeding directly more leggy...

            I'd think the best compromise is to do both!

            6" of railway sleeper above the ground on the outside lifts the sides 6inches. Digging down 4" and putting that into the beds will fill the bed 2" - hence you can edge inside the GH with 6" sleepers (4" drop plus 2" new soil") [4inch deep x 2 ft wide path dug out into 2 x 2 ft wide beds will half the depth]

            So you get 6" extra head height at the path and 4" extra for the plants...

            Is any of it worth the effort?

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            • #7
              I have mine on sleepers, so it's raised by just over a foot. I grow in the borders and the sleepers casting shade hasn't been an issue I've noticed. But I don't sow seed directly, it houses my sowing trays first and then the tomato plants go in.

              Personally I wouldn't dig out the greenhouse because certainly mine would then flood - our site's on a slope and my greenhouse is half-way down. And it would mean the sleepers sitting in soggy soil for most of the year. I have woodchip paths around it to try and soak up as much wet as possible.

              Putting on sleepers was also easier for me to get level and square. Plus we aren't allowed any concrete or permanent fixings on site so that reduced my options rather.

              Raising it has been brilliant for growing tomatoes. I bend them to the shape of the greenhouse and it gets another 2 trusses out of the plants. Picking above my head has never been an issue, as at 5ft9 the extra foot from sleepers really isn't that much. Just stops the roof being uncomfortably close.

              The only thing that's a bit annoying (and it really is minor) is the effort in bringing in compost or taking out soil to recycle elsewhere, because there's a step either side of the door.

              Click image for larger version

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              http://mudandgluts.com - growing fruit and veg in suburbia

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