Gerhard gets a greenhouse

Often, people are surprised when they find out I don’t have a greenhouse. Somehow they assume that I have a large collection (of what?) that needs to be housed in a protected environment.

Not so.

That doesn’t mean I don’t have plants that shouldn’t be sheltered from the elements, mostly seedlings I started myself. Case in point: the echinopsis hybrids I blogged about last summer. In addition, I typically save offsets from aloes, agaves, and mangaves when I (re)move the mother plant. More often than not, the babies are left to their devices, sitting on the ground somewhere in the black hole that is the backyard. And finally, I do have some smaller succulents that could fall under the umbrella of “collector plants.” They get tucked away here and there, wherever there’s a bit of space on a shelf.

All in all, a pretty disorganized and unsatisfying state of affairs.

Still, I’ve resisted getting a greenhouse because I was afraid I might accumulate even more plants that just end up sitting around.

That point is moot now.

I gave into the temptation when I saw what Costco carries this spring. (For readers outside of North America, Costco is a large membership warehouse chain that sells everything from frozen burritos to coffins – usually in larger quantities, although coffins are sold individually.)

The uncredited product images in this post are from the Costco website (© Yardistry ). The credited photos were taken by Kyle, my wife Heather, and me.

Where on earth would a 7 × 8 ft. greenhouse go, you might be wondering. There was room in the backyard actually, in the east-facing side yard. All I had to do was disassemble two raised vegetable beds we hadn’t been using and move the soil to other spots. And that’s exactly what I did (I forgot to take photos of the dirt hauling, but that wasn’t a glamorous activity anyway).

As I said, the side yard faces east and doesn't receive a lot of direct sunlight – just a bit in the morning and then again in the afternoon. Fortunately, our neighbor's house is painted a light yellow and acts like a giant light box, casting soft reflected light onto the greenhouse for most of the day.

Raised vegetable beds being dismantled

I ordered a cubic yard of ⅜" crushed rock...

...and leveled the area:

Then it was time for the assembly. I may have a green thumb, but I do have two left hands. I would never have tackled a project of this magnitude by myself, but my friend Kyle offered to help. If you’ve read any of my posts about his spectacular garden in Sacramento, then you know this guy gets stuff done.

The greenhouse came in two large boxes. I removed all the parts from the boxes and laid them out by item number (conveniently stamped on each piece):

Kyle brought three tables so we had a raised platform for assembling the walls and roof:

Here’s an example of an assembled section, the front wall with the door opening:

We carried the assembled sections into the backyard, set them in place...

...and connected them:

And pretty soon, a greenhouse began to take shape:

Kyle was instrumental in getting this project done quickly. I’ve rarely seen anyone work with such focus and attention to detail. It was a pleasure working next to him, and I’m hugely grateful for his contribution.

Below is a timelapse video of us putting it all together. Unfortunately, the angle wasn’t be best, but it was the only spot I could set up a tripod safely.

Click on “Watch on YouTube” in the video above (or here) to watch the video in a larger size.

A few product photos from Yardistry to show you the inside:

There are shelves on two sides of the greenhouse, wider shelves in the middle, and narrower ones higher up.

The kit came with sturdy eye hooks so I can hang stuff from the rafters

An automatic vent opener opens the window in the roof to keep the greenhouse ventilated:

The window is opened by a piston extending from a cylinder filled with mineral wax that expands as it warms up

The only plants I’ve moved into the greenhouse so far are these two, a variegated Agave polianthiflora (left) and a variegated dwarf Agave isthmensis (right):

I ordered a bunch of seedling trays to organize the plants that will take up residence in the greenhouse. I want to be judicious and strategic instead of filling the shelves with just anything. I’ll have updates as I make progress.

Heartfelt thanks to Kyle who did all the hard stuff and to my wife Heather who provided calm and steady assistance.

© Gerhard Bock, 2024. All rights reserved. To receive all new posts by email, please subscribe here.