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Greenhouse Madness
There isn't an avid gardener who hasn't thought about owning a greenhouse because if you can control your environment then you can grow almost anything. But that power to grow comes with a price. You need the space for the greenhouse and then you have to pay the cost of owning and operating the greenhouse.

For five years I've had a poor man's greenhouse of sorts. It was a makeshift 8 by 10 foot structure that I covered with 5 mil polyethylene in the winter and shade cloth in the summer. The polyethylene always rotted and became brittle by March.  It had heat but no cooling. The structure was adequate for over-wintering  frost sensitive plants and growing a few sweet million cherry tomatoes through the winter. It was a great place for starting seeds. It was also a lot of work to cover and uncover and it certainly wasn't the prettiest structure on the premises.

The last year or two some of the seed catalogs have sold greenhouse plans for about $15. While ordering seeds I sent for the plans just to see what they were offering. What I got was plans to build a basic 10 by 12 foot greenhouse out of the materials of my choosing.

I did a world wide web search to see what a ready to assemble greenhouse would cost. Depending on the materials used and design, a basic 10 by 12 foot greenhouse would run anywhere from $2500 to nearly $7000.  A lot of money for a "I just like to grow things guy" like me. Fortunately I don't mind trying to build something once in a while.  The decision was made to build a greenhouse using the plans I had purchased as a guideline.

My five years of makeshift greenhouse helped me decide what I did and didn't want in my back yard greenhouse. One rule seems to be that no matter what size of greenhouse you have, you'll always want a larger one. Ten by 12 was larger than I had and according to the plans I could always make it longer. I was secure in the knowledge that if I wanted more I could get it.

The Planning Stage
Before I started building I purchased one inexpensive book: Greenhouses - Planning, installing& using greenhouses by Ortho Books. (Editor's note: Ortho has a new All About Greenhouses book published in 2001 that's similar to the previously mentioned book. Retail price is $11.95. It's a good place to start if you're planning to build a greenhouse) I'd also taken the six dollar Gardeners of Tucson April garden tour which had three greenhouses. One was specifically for orchids, the other two somewhat empty at the time of the tour. They had heating and cooling.  I'd also worked in a commercial greenhouse in my younger days and visited a few when I was a assistant garden editor for a shelter publication. So, I wasn't a neophyte.  I had knowledge and I had hope to build a greenhouse I could be proud I built.

One thing I swore before I started construction was that by the time I finished my greenhouse it would be level and square, something I can't find in the house I live in. I had three different sized levels at hand during the construction and two different sized squares. I'll warn you now that having such tools and diligently using them does not guarantee success.

I was almost ready to begin construction but first I made a call to the county to find out if I needed a building permit. The answer was no but I did need to bring down a site map for approval. There are restrictions on how close you can build to property lines and so forth. I'm sure it applies to the city building codes as well.  I'm also sure there are countless backyard structures being built that never get county or city approval.

Site Preparations
The first thing I had to do was dismantle the old greenhouse and dispose of the materials used to build it. Some of the materials became firewood the rest went to the county landfill.  The new greenhouse would be part of my vegetable garden. So while construction was underway I had to build a barrier to keep rabbits and javelina from invading my spring vegetable crops.

I also had to level the plot and decide what I wanted for a foundation. My old structure sat on the ground and the lizards and ground squirrels could often be found inside munching on insects or eating my plants. I decided on a brick foundation, of sorts. I didn't want the critters digging under the structure and devouring my plants in the future.

If you don't own a truck you're going to have to either borrow or  rent one or pay to have everything delivered to the site. I owned a truck so I became the delivery person. The concrete bricks I used for my foundation were heavy so I had to be of sound body. (Whether one is of sound mind when they decide to build their own greenhouse is debatable at this time.)

After a couple of days of work and diligent use of levels, squares, and a measuring tape the foundation was finished and the wood the greenhouse would be attached to was bolted to the bricks.

I'd already decided the finished greenhouse would have a bench down one side and the back wall. The remaining wall would allow for tall growing plants like tomatoes and a hydroponics system I planned to make and experiment with in the future. I decided the floor would be a narrow path of red clay pavers down the center and then used small stones from the abundant supply I had in my driveway for the rest of the floor.

After more trips to the lumberyard for bags of sand and pavers I had my finished floor. Getting those pavers level looks a lot easier on home improvement television shows than it is to do by one's self. They did cut easily with the right kind of blade in the power saw.  (1998)

More Greenhouse Madness

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