green house - erecting & base advice

blushingbride_3

hi there

I have recieved a little green house on freecycle! :j:beer:

Now i need to know can i errect it on soil or do i need a special base?

I'm looking to errect it in the next few weeks so advice greatly recieved

:T

culpepper

Ours is on a metal base but I think you can put one up without. It needs a very very level area though else the frame will warp and you wont be able to ge the glass in. You will need to be able to fix it to the ground somehow. I have seen it done with poles concreted into the earth and then the frame bolted to them at the corners but if you have a base, you can fix the base to the ground and then the frame will bolt to the base. A base will give more head room too.

Kimonokawaii

Quite a few of my fellow allotmenteers have theirs on wooden bases made from pallets or floorboards etc etc we do a lot of freecycling for such things

blushingbride_3

oh wow thanks we have loads of pallets at work!

how does that work? do they dig the ground lay the pallets bolt the greenhouse & then add more soil ontop of the pallets? or do they grow everything in pots inside theres?

BB

Kimonokawaii

I've seen one where the pallets go all the way round the edge with pots on shelves then theres a long gap of soil in the middle but that's a very big greenhouse. Another one i've seen just smashed up the pallets and used the lengths of wood to make a base around the edge and a walkway down the middle in a much smaller greenhouse.

blushingbride_3

ok cool, so they are mainly using the pallets to stop the greenhouse twisting rather than for stability?

would i need anything to stablise it, i.e to stop it blowing away?

sorry i dont have much experience with these things!

alanobrien

If you could get them railway sleepers are the best as they also give additional height to the greenhouse. That said anything free that can be recycled including pallets ais good.

Mine came with a metal base but i used pallets to make some 6ft long staging for nowt

blushingbride_3

well i might be able to 'borrow'!:) so large heavy bits of wood from work & then screw the base to them, would be good as then i can fill with compost etc to make the height up.

Thanks for the advice, i know feel confident to get the job done!
haha might have to bribe hubby to help me!