Friday, May 7, 2010

Wine Bottle Edged Greenhouse & More

From In the Garden

After the greenhouse was set up work was still not done. In fact, I'd hesitate to guess it had only just begun judging by how long it took me to seal and reinforce the greenhouse. I also added a nice edging to the eastern side of the greenhouse.

I already talked of how I had to order more (40) clips to be sure the panels were firmly in place. This helped a bit but the top and bottom of the panels rested on the aluminum members with no way to hold the panels steady. I opted to insert some screws through the panels and to caulk the entire panel to the aluminum frame. I'm happy to say the panels are now firmly set in place and don't appear to be leaking. There are still some air holes that need some attention though. The spots on the roof where the vents are located are not well sealed. I will look at them later because it is vitally important (IMHO) that a greenhouse be well sealed in order to heat it during cold nights. Fortunately it is spring and I suspect the greenhouse will stay warm enough for the few things I have already located to it. Most of my plants were wintered over in the garage where the temperature dropped to a low of 40 degrees. Forty to fifty degrees is my benchmark for keeping the greenhouse warm. I hope passive heating methods and seedling heat pads will help keep the greenhouse above the target temperature during the winter but I'll have to trial it and see what will work best for me.

One other thing I did with my greenhouse is I oriented the opening to the south. The long sides get both the eastern and western sunshine, albeit this sunshine is a bit low in the winter when the sun is in the southern hemisphere. For my garden purposes this orientation worked best. I think most greenhouses are oriented with the long sides facing south though I'm not sure. I insulated the northern side of my greenhouse with very thick polystyrene panels that are lined with foil. The foil faces in toward the heated part. The sun will never hit this side of the greenhouse and I wanted to cut down on the cold north wind coming to the greenhouse on this side so the insulation serves that purpose and gives me a 'static' wall.

Now changing the subject to my greenhouse edging, Skeeter had been saving wine bottles for me for a l-o-n-g time. I knew I wanted a bottle edged garden at some point and figured it would take a lot of bottles. I had no idea how many bottles I had until I began cleaning my garage and found box after bag after wagon full of wine bottles. It is nice to have them out of the garage!

When the greenhouse came along I came up with a better idea to line one side of this greenhouse instead of creating a new garden with bottles for edging. The bottles are on the eastern side of the greenhouse and since this garden is not in a high traffic area of my yard I think these bottles will be safe from breakage. The greenhouse protects them on one side and there are tons of plants on the other side. I alternated between the clear and green bottles and am rather pleased with the striped effect. It wasn't difficult planting these bottles....

in the garden....


Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team,

In the Garden


29 comments:

  1. I am using wine bottles for edging, too. I started with them spaced about 6'apart and am filling in as I find them. Silly question: Do you have any hints for removing labels??

    I've enjoyed following the greenhouse project. I'm a little "green" with envy here....

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  2. Now, why did I not notice the bottles when I was at Tiger Gardens last week? Hum.... Glad you found a use for them....

    I will be taking some time off from the blog. I sent you an email Tina explaining....

    Everyone, please keep my family in your prayers and thoughts.....

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  3. Tina,

    Wine bottles look great along the edge of the greenhouse! Last night I drove home from tile making class and had to stop it rained so hard, got home and we missed the rain...

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  4. I am learning through you that there is more to a greenhouse than just setting it up...I know you will be successful with the use of yours and my oh my Skeeter drinks a lot! lol

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  5. Your greenhouse is great. I love the wine bottles. I know it took a lot of work, but you will get much use out of it. Carla

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  6. I have a beer bottle-edged garden, and have had NO problems with breakage. Good for you for reusing the bottles!

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  7. I'd never considered bottle for the garden like that. Very neat. I'm learning a lot about greenhouses too. I hope you've got this all indexed somehow! :-)

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  8. Hi Rebecca and welcome! I saw the whimsy in your garden. All those quotes are wonderful too. I might have to borrow one or two. I soak my wine bottles overnight in dishwater and use a steel wool pad or wire scrubby to get the labels and all that sticky stuff off. Some wine bottles have labels that will not come off no matter what, I had to toss two like this. Good luck!

    Dawn, Recycling at its best...

    Skeeter, Have a safe trip and take all the time you need. I may post a few on those days if I have some extra, if not, a nice day off still...

    Randy, Bummer on missing the rain at your house. Gotta hate that! We gardeners love the rain. That has been one bonus of all of it we got here in my area-no watering required.

    Darla, Oh yes, lots more to setting up a greenhouse if you wish it to last and work out for a long time. Skeeter had been saving me those bottles for a few years now so not so much really:)

    Carla, I'm hoping I get my garage back and my car will be most happy. lol

    Ginger, I saw your bottle edged garden and enjoyed it. Very nice!

    GSS, Glad you like the bottle idea. It's very pretty. All posts are indexed by labels-hopefully they are easy to find but with almost 1000 posts it is getting complicated!

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  9. love the green house....one day we will have one too.
    i edged my large veggie garden last year with wine bottles but the opposite way. it was supposed to help keep small animals away with the whistling noise the open bottles would make in the wind.
    i did like the look of it.
    happy gardening.

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  10. Hi Tina, I've always wanted a greenhouse. I know you will love it when you have it finished.
    Marnie

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  11. most Greenhouses are oriented with the long side facing south but like you I adjusted mine to fit the landscape. I bet you can't wait to see how it works this winter! Or maybe you can - I'm not ready for cold weather yet.

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  12. You've seen my bottle-edged herb garden I think, Tina. It's holding up well. It was pretty hard to get them in there, though, because my soil has lots of clay and rocks. All the bottles made it thru their first winter intact. I really love the look of these alongside the greenhouse!!

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  13. Neat idea with the wine bottles. Won't that help keep the heat in this winter? I know you will enjoy it.

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  14. Sounds like you are being very thorough on getting the greenhouse sealed up. The bottle edging looks great!

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  15. Neat idea and the bottles look great along the edge.

    Sandy

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  16. The bottle edging looks great Tina. I think it adds a nice touch.
    Getting it up and running has sure been a lot of work ~ much more than the ads for those kits make it out to be. It will all be worth it tho this winter. I bet you'll be able to easily keep it at 40 to 50 degrees.

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  17. What a lot of work to set that up but you'll sure get a lot of enjoyment out of it.
    Love the bottles lining it - great idea.

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  18. Tina, the London Pride is a Saxifraga and it IS a great groundcover.

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  19. Blessing on Skeeter's family as they go through the aftermath of disaster.

    Your GH looks good. I have an HFGH. In my part of the south, the biggest problem is heat rather than cold. I've already moved almost everything out for the summer and removed two panels so windstorms can blow through. The cat likes to spend time in there on a bench up out of reach of the dog, who thinks it is a gymnasium.

    Will you have thermal mass for winter heat retention and heat mediation in the summer?

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  20. That's a lot of wine! :-) Do the bottles echo any sounds with the rain?

    I have a beer bottle retaining wall in my garden. I'll tell that story one day.

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  21. Gotta admit the bottles gives the garden that eclectic look. Pretty cool !

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  22. The wine bottle edging looks great. I bet you'll love the greenhouse after the bother of putting it up.

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  23. The wine bottle edging looks great. I hope to get a greenhouse one day. Enjoy yours. You'll be able to do so many things.~~Dee

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  24. It looks interesting, and 'whimsical'. Creative and fun!

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  25. Love the bottle edging idea. Interesting. Good luck with your greenhouse, Tian! Hope you're having a great weekend!

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  26. Hi all, I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day today. Mine was beautiful.

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  27. I love bottle edging in general and yours in specific. Skeeter is a good friend to sacrifice herself to drinking wine for you, LOL!

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  28. Clever girl! The wine bottles look awesome!

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