Ya girl’s back after a bit of a blog hiatus, with some old news, but that I never actually talked about. I got a greenhouse last summer, which you can imagine was a dream come true for me! Because of course, it would have its practical uses (outdoor storage, seed starting, in-season growing etc.) but above all else, it would be an essential piece to the cottage garden aesthetic that I was trying to achieve in the backyard.
I’m gonna try to keep this summary of getting my dream greenhouse as short as possible, and keep this post mostly about marvelling at how beautifully it has transformed the backyard.
Prepping The Space
We put the greenhouse in the back corner of the backyard where we used to have a gazebo that we never used. We decided to go with a concrete foundation (as opposed to wood), and as such, we first had to dig out about 6 inches of dirt in the area.
This took way longer than you’d expect because we kept running into roots, rocks, mysterious empty tubing (???) and more random stuff. The soil was also heavy clay, which did not help.
We were also in the process of building a new shed, so we took the opportunity (when everything was demolished and dug out) to get electricity run to the back of the backyard and into each future structure.
Once the area was dug out, we filled it with 3/4″ gravel, compacted it down and built a foundation form out of old fence pieces we kept as scrap wood.
This was the first time I had ever worked with cement, and I gotta say, it is so much heavier than I could’ve imagined!
After the foundation set, we filled the inside with more gravel and I installed a flagstone floor.
I knew from the beginning, I wanted a floor that was opened to the ground underneath. I love the look of a tiled greenhouse, but it’s just so much more practical for all the water and dirt that would undoubtedly fall to the floor.
Building The Greenhouse
I ordered the Parkside greenhouse from BC Greenhouses with 3mm glass and long story short, if you’re interested in getting a kind of mid-tier greenhouse with that English aesthetic, I would recommend this greenhouse. I am more satisfied than not with the finished product. However, I do find their customer service to be lacking in some areas, and around Christmastime the same year we built it, one of the roof panels shattered in the middle of the night. Maybe there was a slight imperfection in the glass, there’s no way to know, but it was probably just a freak accident. They were very surprised to hear that had happened when I contacted them about it. I might have been the first person who that ever happened to!
Anyway, so we received the greenhouse in May and installation was a breeze.
Everything was packaged very well, and the instructions they sent were extremely thorough and easy to follow. It took about 2 days for 3 people to install it, though 2 people could have easily done it.
The English Cottage Garden of my Dreams
I just love that I can look out the kitchen window all summer long, and this beauty is just framed front and centre between tree canopies and flowers!
And for the winter, I obviously had to put a Christmas tree in there! It became a beacon, a glowy haze amongst all the snow and darkness.
I cannot understate how much of a dream come true this is for me. I mean LOOK AT HER!!!! It makes my heart so happy to see her every day.
If you’re a gardening lover like I am and you’re lucky enough to have the option of getting a greenhouse, I think you should do without hesitation!
xoxo
