Allotments 4 All

Have just acquired a 6' square aluminium framed old greenhouse from another allotment. It has polythene on three sides that are reasonably in tact but the door and  front panels need replacing...oh, help...how, what with..... On looking at the frame I just can't see how to attach the polyhtene, it seems to be stuck on and sealed with that clear thick tape you use for drainpipe leaks. But what about the base, do i just tuck it under the frame?????

I also need to fasten done the grenhouse to stop it blowing away, though is in a fairly sheltereed spot..how do i do that? At present it is placed on bare earth. On inspection there seem to be holes that I can use to screw it done to something? Have three old (long school)  table tops that we are using as a sitting area can I use that to screw greenhouse to?    Have nevr had a greenhous ebefore so will need to read up on what to actually grow in it, what sort of shleves/staging should I get too?

Hope you can help I am all of a muddle with this ... :( :( :( :(

Hi nitiram

I think you should just improvise with fixing new polythene to it - if you look at other allotments, the sheds and greenhouses are made out of all sorts of things! No one will care what it looks like - as long as it does the job!

When I acquired my greenhouse it was fixed to the ground with what looked like huge tent pegs - they were about 1 ft long.

As for shelving - I have got some bits of plastic that are usually used for conservatory roofs and I also have a table that was once used in a posh London hotel restaurant!

You can grow all sorts of things! It is great to get some seeds growing and also for over wintering stuff. So far I have grown bedding plants, strawberries and tomatoes. The list is endless for what you can try!

Enjoy! :)

nitiram       Me too ;D   I've got one with two doors, no base, just a few bits of glass and I'm scratching my head too.  Wondering whether to bother with it so just stashed it behind the shed.  I don't know how to fix plastic to it either unless I fix it onto wood which is attached to the frame by drilling it and screwing it.  I have visions of a green house with no light as it's got lumps of wood all over it  ;D  I was told that I could make a base out of lengths of hardwood and drill holes in it to correspond to those in the greenhouse, or have a run of bricks mortared onto level soil.  All sounds a bit too much for me so behind the shed it stays.  I think it would be easier to buy a nice new one and pay the firm to erect it.  Much simpler and painless plus it would come with all the relevant bits!  The guy who offloaded it onto me led me to believe the one I was getting was the one standing proud on his allotment.  Oh no it wasn't - it was the one in a pile on the floor which was well out of sight  ;D

Nitram, an aluminium framed greenhouse clad in polythene will be very lightweight, and really needs to be fixed to something heavy.  I would invest in  a couple of railway sleepers (one for each side), and screw the frame down onto these, but use brass screws - not steel.

Wardy, have you considered installing what glass you have, and then filling in the gaps with rigid plastic sheeting - much cheaper than glass, easily cut to size(with care) and fixed in place simply with the standard glazing clips sold in all garden centres.  It might even be possible to use twin-walled polycarbonate.

I anchored mine down using angle iron. 4 -3 foot lengths one for each corner, hammer angle irons into ground leaving 3 or 4"s above ground then drill angle iron and fix to greenhouse with 6mm nut and bolt.

Nitiram

Whatever you do with the glazing/plasticking, you MUST weigh it down against the wind, even in a sheltered place.  You mention screw-holes in the base of the frame, so I would recommend getting hold of some paving slabs and screwing it down onto them all around the edges - this would leave you free to plant direct into soil inside.  Screwing it to table tops won't hold it down in a gale.

Good luck with it. :)

Thanks for all the advice...am still confused especially how on earth do you screw something into concrete paving slabs when I am no where near an electric power point for the heavy duty drill???     Won't the table tops be strong enough to hold it down? Surely they won't move in a gale????   oh help.     

I sympathise with Wardy...I was given this greenhouse oyut of the kindness of their hearts..I am the only solo woman on the plots and I am certainly well looked after by the old men.

Was going to lottie this evening to screw it to the table tops as  have visitors all day but is absolutely pouring down. So hopefully green house still there. 

Any more suggestions as to what I actually put in it and when..veggies, not flowers.??

24v battery drill

So now  Nitriam you've got to go out and buy a drill  ;D

I thought about glazing my delapidated pile with polycarb and could get it cut to size from Two Wests & Elliott in Chesterfield.  It's ever so expensive though but at least it's safe and won't create a broken glass problem for whoever inherits my lotty after me  :)  I think that's the route I'll go down but not til I can afford it but it won't be any time soon  :(

Am afraid that I am not allowed to be let loose with a drill; my family confiscated my electric one last year after i had an accident with it while putting in a shower and it slipped and just about skewered my left arm......oops!

Anyway, we braved the rain this afternoon and screwd the greenhouse down to the three large and heavy table tops. Worked out how to put the polythene on too. There is a capping frame thingie on the apex of the roof which will unscrew and then hold the polythene down. The joints sealed with that heavy duty clear stuff.It looks as if the polythene is then slipped under the base frame and screwed down on top of it to trap it between floor and frame..so thats OK. Just need to go and buy some now, where is the best place to get it, is it expensive?  We have a Band Q, Wilkos, and Boyes , no garden centres or larger stores.

Nitriam   Ta for the tip about the apex thingy.  I'll have a look to see if mine has one  :)   The plastic for your greenhouse can be bought off the internet.  Try www.allplaz.co.uk  (or it could be allplas)  Or just try a search on Google.  I know there are sites which sell it as I've looked at them before  :)

My greenhouse base has been cemented to the slabs of a dismantled coal bunker, so no drilling or screwing down was involved. 

After having  panes in the greenhouse broken by footballs from the adjacent play area, I decided to replace all future broken panes with twin-wall poly(something).  The glass panes were 2 x 2, so I though two panes could be replaced by one sheet of 2 x 4.  It did not fit.  I had not taken into account the fact the the glass panes overlap, so had to trim about half an inch of each panel.

Are your plastic panes overlapping now or not? I ask this as I want to do the same thing

No, the plastic sheet does not overlap.  The original glass panes, two 2 x 2 glass overlapped with the supporting S clips.  I replaced these with ONE 2 x 4 twinned wall plastic sheet, i.e. no overlap and no S clips.  The aluminium frame of the greenhouse for the glass is not 4ft.  Manufacturer of the greenhouse is Halls. If you want to go into more details I will get exact measurement, but perhaps this should be a seperate subject.