It sounds like he was at a disadvantage from the start Debs. If you are planning on staying where you are for a few years, and you know that you will get a lot of use from it, l would say go for glass, however from what you have described possibly polycarbonate would suffice for now, especially if you have young children to consider.. A lot depends on your budget of course. Tomatoes would need good light, so glass might be better for that.
That really is bad luck. The twisted frame would be hard to fix and it sounds like you would need a lot of glass. I agree about perspex rather than polycarbonate. Good luck!
My own fault for buying unseen, it was only £30 and seemed the perfect size but you live and learn. Willlook for a little polycarbonate greenhouse as I have a limited area to play with. My house is rented we don’t plan to move soon but it does limit what I can do, inust want somewhere dry and sheltered to do gardening jobs in really. Maybe harden off a few plants and grow some tomatoes. thanks for taking the time to reply I really appreciate it.
@debs64, sorry to hear about your frustrations in putting the GH together. This may not appeal to you, but I decided to go for something short-term in the end as I wanted to see if it worked where I live before I spent too much money.
So I bought a plastic one from Lidl for £40 and I was very pleasantly surprised by the quality of it. I was worried about it blowing away in the wind so I weighed it down with huge rocks, just in case. I meant to take it down for the winter but never got round to it, and whilst it does rock and sway a bit on very windy days, it has managed to survive the winter okay. My friend bought a second-hand glass one and has ended up replacing several panes due to wind damage.
As far as growing is concerned, I had massive success with tomatoes and cucumbers but my garden does get a lot of sunshine. I know this might not suit your needs for growing plus storage but I thought I'd let you know which way I went in the end.
Whatever you go for, keep the instructions if you want to dismantle it and take it with you when you move. That actually be might be easier with perspex/polycarbonate rather than glass.
Can you repurpose any parts of the glass one as lids for a timber cold frame? That would be useful for hardening off plants and overwintering things that need just a bit of frost protection and cover from the worst of the rain.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
We bought a polycarb one last year - we had a pre-existing 8x8 base, so size was non negotiable. It's been a learning curve (the previous one was glass). All I'd add is the use the bracings that should come with the greenhouse. Ours arrived without them and we lost roof panels in the first storm. Bracings arrived and we also made our own for the roof, then siliconed the panels in place and applied special durable tape. I never realised just how noisy it would be in the wind though - bear that in mind if it's near bedroom windows. We had the best crop of tomatoes ever last year and this year, I'm debating whether to by a Quadgrow system
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If you are planning on staying where you are for a few years, and you know that you will get a lot of use from it, l would say go for glass, however from what you have described possibly polycarbonate would suffice for now, especially if you have young children to consider..
A lot depends on your budget of course.
Tomatoes would need good light, so glass might be better for that.
I agree about perspex rather than polycarbonate. Good luck!
inust want somewhere dry and sheltered to do gardening jobs in really. Maybe harden off a few plants and grow some tomatoes.
thanks for taking the time to reply I really appreciate it.
So I bought a plastic one from Lidl for £40 and I was very pleasantly surprised by the quality of it. I was worried about it blowing away in the wind so I weighed it down with huge rocks, just in case. I meant to take it down for the winter but never got round to it, and whilst it does rock and sway a bit on very windy days, it has managed to survive the winter okay. My friend bought a second-hand glass one and has ended up replacing several panes due to wind damage.
As far as growing is concerned, I had massive success with tomatoes and cucumbers but my garden does get a lot of sunshine. I know this might not suit your needs for growing plus storage but I thought I'd let you know which way I went in the end.
All I'd add is the use the bracings that should come with the greenhouse. Ours arrived without them and we lost roof panels in the first storm. Bracings arrived and we also made our own for the roof, then siliconed the panels in place and applied special durable tape.
I never realised just how noisy it would be in the wind though - bear that in mind if it's near bedroom windows.
We had the best crop of tomatoes ever last year and this year, I'm debating whether to by a Quadgrow system