Greenhouse advice....?

alexemmersonuk

Sorry, me again. 
Just trying to make the most of this lovely sunny bank holiday weekend and after some advice. 

I am considering buying a greenhouse. 

I am Italian and I love growing tomatoes and would love to try and grow a few more Mediterranean fruits (figs / grapes / oranges) and I imagine the only way I'd have even a shot at this would be to have a greenhouse. 

Even without the med fruits, I love growing flowers from seed, and many of them, so a greenhouse would be great. 

Now, there's a few things I need to bear in mind. 

1. I have 4 children, all boisterous boys, so I am a bit nervous about having glass in the garden, but I hate the look of polycarbonate panels (I know, very fussy, but it does matter to me what it looks like, as I a design enthusiast too). Is there an in-between choice?

2. I'd like something relatively big, but I have heard even the big ones can be easily picked up by the wind, which we do have plenty of in Norfolk. What do people do to avoid this? Should I consider fixing it to the ground with cement (something I would not be able to do until I move to a house I own, probably within the next 6 months). 

Any other suggestions at all? 

If you could choose your greenhouse over again, what would you do differently? 

Thanks! 

Alex from Norwich :-)  

Pete.8

Your choice will depend a lot on your budget.

The best and safest glass is toughened glass - more expensive, but if it does get broken it cracks into thousands of small bits - exactly the same as a car windscreen and so is pretty safe. Ordinary horticultural glass smashes into deadly shards.

I have a Rhino Premium 10 x 8 which cost around £3000 in 2016
If I could choose again, I'd have exactly the same
It won't blow away in the wind either

Figs will grow outside in many part of the UK

alexemmersonuk

@Pete.8
this is brilliant! Exactly what I was after. I was thinking up to £2000, but I can be flexible so I can definitely look into toughened glass etc as safety is paramount of course with the little ones running around. 

Also very encouraging to hear about the figs! my favourite! more research needed I think  


Can I check - how does it not blow away in the wind? How is it fixed to the ground please? 

  

Pete.8

Many greenhouses have a choice of installation methods depending on the surface that it will stand on. The Rhino range can be safely installed on soil, but some concreting is involved
The base for mine is bolted into the paving slabs that the greenhouse sits on and the greenhouse is bolted onto the base. Mine is completely exposed to the south-west (I can see the horizon) and it's withstood all that the winds have blown on it.
If you have a look at some manufacturers sites it should give you installation options.

here's a pic of when it was first installed-

Simone_in_Wiltshire

@alexemmersonuk I don’t have a big greenhouse but I had ask our gardening service guy to get me concrete slabs basement. That had cost me around £270 + the slabs that I bought. I asked an official Eden greenhouse service man (he earns his money with assembling and maintaining Eden greenhouses). Because we had pre-build it and it needed only adjustments, it cost another £150. He screwed the house to the concrete slabs and it doesn’t move a mm. We are in a wind alley and storms were up to 90 miles ph. 

With spending so much in your case, please add another £1000 for the basement and assembling and you will have a proper greenhouse. 

My neighbour did it on his own and the greenhouse looks like that and 3 windows were blown away in the first storm from the wind that came under the greenhouse frame. I found even his glass pieces in my garden. 

BenCotto

I’m an advocate of great design too so suggest you look at Cultivar greenhouses. I’m delighted with mine, but be sure to be sitting down when you see the price.

hatty123

@alexemmersonuk just picking up on where you say you'll be moving in a few months. Personally I would wait until the move if it's only going to be a few months, as taking the greenhouse with you could be quite a big job to dismantle, transport and put back together again and it'll add extra costs. Also you might want one smaller or bigger depending on your new garden.

alexemmersonuk

@hatty123
yes that is definitely the plan. I am just researching at this stage  

alexemmersonuk

@Simone_in_Wiltshire
thank you for the advice!

alexemmersonuk

@BenCotto
That DOES look gorgeous and I will definitely look it up! Thank you!

Simone_in_Wiltshire

@alexemmersonuk If you plan to move, don’t buy now a greenhouse even you intend to use it at the new place. Different gardens work with different greenhouses. Just work out the costs and then make decision once you have settled in. 

Also check the price with the service man/woman. I read in the internet that assembling a 8x6 “ greenhouse takes 2 days time and costs up to £2000 and that was before Covid.