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Advice on base for circular greenhouse

OhFunkItOhFunkIt Posts: 3
in Garden design
Could you please advise on the best way to lay a base for a circular greenhouse?

I have contacted several local builders and landscape gardeners in Sheffield with only one reply!

I am thinking of laying concrete pavers; the recommended base is 21 foot diameter and 1 foot wide. Would a ring of 450x450 pavers be sufficient on hardcore and sand?

The area has a gently sloping gradient to one side.

Thanks for your help




Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited August 2018
    Surely the suppliers of the greenhouse will be the best people to advise you on an appropriate base?

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • OhFunkItOhFunkIt Posts: 3
    I have bought it from someone not the supplier.

    I have contacted them but they do not have the information for this particular model.

    Thanks for your reply.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    45cm wide pavers should be plenty big enough.  The trick will be getting it all dead level so you can build the greenhouse without problems.   If you need help with that, the 3DVD set by Geoff Hamilton on Cottage Gardens, Victorian Kitchen Garden and Paradise Gardens has loads of info on how to lay level bases and paths or there'll be something on You Tube. 
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    Technically they're not circular so you can make the base up with a series of straight edges if you cut the angles between them correctly. To make a circle you could use concrete pavement edges though which are usually available in a variety of radii (radiuses?) or even driveway edges if you can find anything suitable. The pavement edges would give a really nice base if concreted in properly.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • hogweedhogweed Posts: 4,053
    Have you thought about what you want inside the greenhouse? Do you intend to plant into soil beds? or will want it all paved? That would be my first step. If you want a hard base inside the greenhouse then I would just pave the whole area, or pavers. As long as you have the paving/pavers on a solid base ie some hardcore it will be fine. 
    Fabulous greenhouse by the way...…….
    'Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement' - Helen Keller
  • OhFunkItOhFunkIt Posts: 3
    Thanks for the replies.

    I'm having soil beds inside. The original plan was to have it on a foot wide circular wall but  the builder who replied to my quote request was very busy for the next few weeks so I'm going to have a go at doing it myself.

    The main thing I'm not sure about is the uneven ground to one side and the best way to even it up?
  • ZeroZero1ZeroZero1 Posts: 577
    I have constructed a concrete base for my greenhouse. If i did it again I would use pavers. Much easier. 
    Did you think about Hexagonal pavers? i think they might look better and contour to a circle easier. Also leaving haxagonal holes could work inside the greenhouse
  • hogweedhogweed Posts: 4,053
    It all depends on how uneven it is and also what is on the ground. If it is soil surrounding it, then it is fairly simple just to decide on your level for the greenhouse and then contour the soil to suit. If it is grass then it is a bit more tricky. You may have to build a little retaining wall (using bricks or wooden edging). To decide on the level you need to either split the difference or choose the higher or the lower level. Again it all depends on the difference and what is on the ground. 
    'Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement' - Helen Keller
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