GREENHOUSES AUSTRALIA - WINTER GARDENZ

  • Greenhouses
    • Top Selling Products
    • Greenhouses (Poly)
    • Glasshouses (Glass)
    • Shade Houses (Shade Mesh)
    • Elite Deluxe Glasshouses
    • MultiZone Grow-houses
    • Foundations
    • Shelving & Staging
    • Heating & Insulation
    • Shade & Ventilation
    • Accessories
    • Additional Parts
    • Tools
  • Commercial
    • Custom and Commercial
    • Commercial Photo Gallery
  • Buyers' Guide
    • Buyers' Guide
    • Glass vs Poly vs Film
    • Help Me Choose
    • Buyer Beware!
    • Common Questions
    • Movies & Videos
    • Why grow in a Greenhouse?
    • Greenhouse Layout Guide
    • Positioning your Greenhouse
    • Assembly Information
    • Powder Coating
    • Greenhouse Growing
    • Information >
      • Free Information Pack
      • Brochure Download
      • Online Order Form
      • Awards We've Won
      • About Winter Gardenz
      • Contact the Team
      • Recipes
      • Kindies & Schools
      • Online Shopping Info
      • Site Map
      • Stockists Page (Password)
  • Feedback
    • Testimonials
    • Photo Gallery
  • Local Stockists
  • Greenhouses
    • Top Selling Products
    • Greenhouses (Poly)
    • Glasshouses (Glass)
    • Shade Houses (Shade Mesh)
    • Elite Deluxe Glasshouses
    • MultiZone Grow-houses
    • Foundations
    • Shelving & Staging
    • Heating & Insulation
    • Shade & Ventilation
    • Accessories
    • Additional Parts
    • Tools
  • Commercial
    • Custom and Commercial
    • Commercial Photo Gallery
  • Buyers' Guide
    • Buyers' Guide
    • Glass vs Poly vs Film
    • Help Me Choose
    • Buyer Beware!
    • Common Questions
    • Movies & Videos
    • Why grow in a Greenhouse?
    • Greenhouse Layout Guide
    • Positioning your Greenhouse
    • Assembly Information
    • Powder Coating
    • Greenhouse Growing
    • Information >
      • Free Information Pack
      • Brochure Download
      • Online Order Form
      • Awards We've Won
      • About Winter Gardenz
      • Contact the Team
      • Recipes
      • Kindies & Schools
      • Online Shopping Info
      • Site Map
      • Stockists Page (Password)
  • Feedback
    • Testimonials
    • Photo Gallery
  • Local Stockists

Backyard Greenhouse: The New Woman Cave?

19/2/2015

0 Comments

 

The Backyard Greenhouse is finally getting some respect!

The backyard greenhouse is finally getting some respect. Avid gardeners, many of them retired baby boomers, are building greenhouses not just for gardening, but also for crafting, reading and lounging—in essence, a female version of the "man cave."

By day, they are sunny, private, plant-filled sanctuaries filled with the sound of classical music or NPR. By night, they are sparkling spaces for cocktails amid exotic foliage. Either way, they are worlds away from the rinky-dink eyesores that backyard greenhouses used to be, all flimsy plastic and wobbly poles.

"I love to go out there on a cold January day," says Alice Preyer, 56, whose greenhouse is built of heavy aluminum and tempered glass from an English-imported kit behind her 1930s brick home in Greensboro, N.C. "The sun is beating in, and it feels fabulous," she says.

Plants are almost an afterthought. Ms. Preyer's greenhouse is a home for her citrus trees and tall gardenia, but it also contains a comfy garden chair, tucked in a corner and reupholstered in a fern print. She displays her collection of antique water pitchers in the greenhouse and filled shelves by the entryway with garden books and magazines. Pots of blooming pink geraniums are arranged on wrought-iron shelves. "I'll go out there with my magazines, listen to music and make phone calls," Ms. Preyer says. "It is like a fairyland."

The latest addition to the backyard is sometimes a greenhouse. Families are finding it's more than a great way to grow plants, Anne Marie Chaker reports on Lunch Break. (Photo: Jay Paul for The Wall Street Journal) James Kirkpatrick, 61, recently added a 22-foot-long "Cape Cod" greenhouse to his property, also in Greensboro. It's mainly for his wife, Jane, 58. She envisioned year-round gardening, tea parties, flower-pressing and scrapbooking with her granddaughters amid African violets and orchids. "I'm just interested in a good-tasting tomato in January or February," Mr. Kirkpatrick says. "I hope she lets me in the door."
New Woman Cave
New Woman Cave
New Woman Cave
New Woman Cave
Ms. Kirkpatrick plans to decorate using washed-out paint finishes, farm tables and old galvanized-steel seed trays. She has several old baskets to hold tools and clay pots. And she wants to have cabinets built around an abandoned porcelain sink she discovered in her grandmother's house. "I'm now looking for old, ratty oriental rugs to throw on the floor," she says.

At International Greenhouse Co., a commercial and residential distributor in Danville, Ill., sales to homeowners are up about 30% from three years ago, while commercial sales have been "in the dumps," says business owner David George. Hartley Botanic Ltd., a British maker of Victorian-style greenhouses (average price, $65,000), pegs annual sales growth in the U.S. at about 15% for the past three years. Behind the growth is increasing "awareness about growing your own food and getting back to nature," says Johnny Mobasher, Hartley's U.K.-based managing director. Hartley's typical consumer is about 60, "fully retired, their mortgage is paid up, working a couple days a week and with a lot of disposable income," he says.

Brenda Plantz, 65, has been experimenting with different plant combinations in her "Victorian manor" greenhouse from Hartley, which she had built last July at her Charlottesville, Va., home. The cost, including electrical wiring, gas heating and plumbing installation, was about $80,000. Her San Marzano tomato plants, started from seed, are about a foot tall, and mesclun lettuces are ready to pick. She plans to start English cucumbers from seed soon. But more than a vegetable zone, Ms. Plantz's greenhouse is her playroom. "It's a huge sunny spot, and fun to go there in the wintertime, sit at the table and have a cup of tea," she says.

Greenhouses let in light and contain heat—meaning on a sunny, frigid day, temperatures inside can easily run 50 degrees higher than outside, says Shane Smith, author of the book "Greenhouse Gardener's Companion." In winter, that can be ideal for growing tropical plants, which thrive in temperatures in the 80- to 90-degree Fahrenheit range. But watch out in spring and summer, when interior temperatures can be unbearable for plants and humans, climbing up over 120 degrees. Crack open a few windows or run a fan so plants don't overheat. On winter nights, to protect plants from frostbite, it may be necessary to run a space heater.

Mold and mildew thrive in greenhouses with overwatered plants or inadequate ventilation. The fan or the heater will help, but running them also will add hundreds of dollars a year to the electric bill. "It's kind of like having a pet," Mr. Smith, the author, says. "If you disappear for four or five days, you can have problems."

Ms. Plantz appreciated the risks of ownership last August, when an earthquake rattled the East Coast a month after construction ended. "I looked over to the greenhouse and the very end pane moved," she says. "We were petrified that the whole thing would come crashing down." The structure remained standing.

When Dan Schwenker, 57, and his wife, Deb, 55, built their long-dreamed-of outdoor pool, Mr. Schwenker thought of a way to swim year-round. "An idea popped into my head—greenhouse," says the retired vice president of a Burlington, Iowa, construction company. "We usually go for a swim at night, after we get off work." Even in the dead of winter, he says, "you can just go out there, turn on the pool lights, see the blue water— it's just really nice."

From the Wall Street Journal http://www.wsj.com/articles/
By Anne Marie Chaker March 7, 2012
0 Comments

10 DIY Garden Ideas for Using Old Pallets

18/2/2015

3 Comments

 

Creative Garden Pallet Uses

Are you looking for a way to add dimension and interest to your garden area? Is your dilemma one of limited space? Try adding an old pallet to your plans for an inexpensive solution to many gardening challenges. You might already have one lying around that you can reuse. You can also seek pallets out at recycling or donation centers and at stores that carry large item inventories. Don’t be afraid to just ask your local hardware store if they have pallets you can take off their hands.

Once you have found a pallet, you should clean it up and determine whether the wood of the pallet has been chemically treated with preservatives, especially if you would like to plant edibles into your pallet garden.  After that, the key to incorporating a pallet into your project is to tap into your creative side and think a little outside of the box.  Or maybe inside the box, in this case.  Here are ten clever ways to use a pallet to enhance your garden projects.
  • An interesting way to use a pallet in your garden is to use it for your vertical gardening purposes.  Vertical gardening is a great solution to the problem of limited space.  A pallet can be stood on end on a patio or other small space for a touch of botanical beauty.  You have the flexibility of stocking your vertical pallet garden with herbs, succulents, vegetables or flowers. Head to http://lifeonthebalcony.com/how-to-turn-a-pallet-into-a-garden/ to visualize a do it yourself pallet idea for your own small patio garden.
  • In addition to taking up less space, vertical gardening with pallets is a different way to grow certain vegetables in your garden such as tomatoes, pole beans, and cucumbers that thrive when grown off the ground.  Learn how to build a vegetable garden vertically within a pallet here: http://www.growingagreenerworld.com/creating-a-pallet-garden-step-by-step-instructions/
  • Raised garden beds can produce twice the amount of vegetables per square foot than traditional row gardens.  They also promote improvement of soil since they are not easily walked on.  There is improved soil drainage, and a raised bed allows for a longer growing season since they warm earlier in the spring and stay warmer later into the harvest season. For raised garden purposes, a pallet can be laid flat on the ground, lined with landscape fabric, and filled with soil.  To learn more about how to grow vegetables, herbs,  fruits, or flowers in a raised bed fashion with a pallet, visit http://homeguides.sfgate.com/make-raised-beds-pallets-44441.html
  • For an even more abundant harvest, pallets can be stacked and strategically positioned to create vertical garden growth as well as horizontal garden growth.  Learn more about how to accomplish this here:  http://themicrogardener.com/20-creative-ways-to-upcycle-pallets-in-your-garden/
  • With a few pallets, build your own composter that can be placed anywhere in your yard. Composters aide in providing organic food for your garden plants.  To learn the how-to for building and composting in a pallet container check out http://compostbinplans.net/types-of-compost-bins/pallet-compost-bin-plan/
  • No shed for your large gardening tools?  No problem.  Here is a super easy way to use a pallet for storage: http://www.fleamarketgardening.org/2012/09/13/using-ordinary-pallets-in-a-fantastic-garden/
  • Another useful and aesthetic option is to create a potting bench by piecing together two or three pallets.  A potting bench is a great place to store your smaller tools and pots to keep seedlings that need extra attention close at hand or to feature your favorite foliage.  For instructions on how to build a pallet potting bench:  http://www.hometipsworld.com/how-to-make-a-diy-garden-potting-bench.html
  • A fairy garden is a project for the youngest gardeners or for those young at heart. The smaller size of a pallet is a manageable size for a perfectly magical fairy garden. To find a step by step how-to  guide to build your own enchanted garden in a pallet http://www.goodgirlgonegreen.com/gardening/how-to-build-a-fairy-garden-made-from-pallets-logs-and-shade-plants
  • Another youth-inspired idea for your garden area is to add a pallet swing. Pallet swing plans range from fun and simple to warm and cozy. To build one yourself http://woodenpalletfurniture.com/pallet-furniture/diy-pallet-swing-plans-chair-bed-bench/
  • Nestle an easy-to-build pallet bench into any little garden niche.  Take your pick from these garden bench designs http://diypallets.com
Do you have another DIY garden idea for an old pallet? Leave us a comment to keep the ideas coming!
3 Comments

    Winter Gardenz Greenhouses, Glasshouses & Shadehouses Australia

    Innovative, Award Winning Domestic and Commercial Quality Greenhouses, Glasshouses, Shade houses and Accessories.

    Archives

    April 2016
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014

    Categories

    All
    Article
    Feedback
    Growing In Winter
    Growing Undercover
    Helpful Tips / Advice
    Shows / Events
    Specials

    RSS Feed

Australia's Leading Brand of Domestic and Commercial Greenhouses
Innovative, Award Winning, Quality Materials and Built to Last!

Get to Know Us
Our Story
Awards
Schools & Kindies
Careers
News / Blog

Expert Advice
Movies / Videos
Using a Greenhouse
Help Me Decide
Buyer Beware
Layout / Position
Ways to Shop
Buy Online
Stockists
Mail Order
Phone Order
View Brochure
Customer Service
Contact Us
Stockists
FAQs
Delivery
Site Map

Winter Gardenz Australia Pty Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy  
Phone 1800 757 610 • 244 Eramosa Road West, Moorooduc, Victoria 3933, Australia
NZ Pat App 701580