Greenhouse Relocation Is Complete

Hi, Friends,

Welcome back.

I hope you are staying well and encouraged. I will confess that I've had a hard time with this virus resurgence and it had me a little down in the dumps for a few days but after a pity party, I got to work on my greenhouse.

If you recall, it needed to be moved so that they could replace the retaining wall between our house and the neighbor next door. 

If the wall project hadn't commenced, I'd never have thought of moving the greenhouse. I wasn't sure it could be moved. When the neighbor said that they couldn't redo the wall unless it was moved, we figured out how to do it. It turns out that it is really light weight.  I was able to walk it across the yard by myself.

 When we put up the deck cover in 2019, the yard looked a little lopsided.  The deck, the shed, the greenhouse, and the pool were all on the same side of the yard. 

There was a lot going on. 

The greenhouse wasn't functioning where it was. It was too hot in the spring and too cold in the winter. 

I used it for storage. When they forecast Uri, most of my plants were moved indoors. I'm sure I would have lost all of my plants. 

When the wall was being built, the greenhouse sat in the middle of the yard for a week or so. I began to wonder what it would look like on the other side of the yard. I had plants and shrubs on that side but they all could be moved. The main two shrubs were nandinas which are plentiful in my yard as it is. They would not be missed at all. 

I began clearing the area and creating a little retaining wall with rocks from the yard but I had a difficult time getting the area level. I moved the greenhouse over anyway to see if it would work. It did and I love it. 

My landscape guy was going to come by to see it so that he could work on getting it level for me but I decided to give it one more try before he did. My last attempt was a success. It was level. He recommended bark mulch for the floor. When Bill picked up the mulch, he also picked up a tamper so that I could compact the soil before spreading the mulch. How have I lived without this tool?

Rocks from elsewhere in the yard were used to make steps descending down to the greenhouse. 

The tamper was used for that project as well. 

Bill made shelves when we first got the greenhouse but they didn't function well during the winter months.  

I decided to kick it "old school" and set up simple cinder block shelves. 

 We had the cinder blocks and the wood. 

These can be repositioned depending on the season. I'll have storage for pots in the summer and plants in the winter because these can be customized according my need. Best of all, I can move it all myself. 

I downsized my collection of flower pots and such. I kept my favorite things. 

A chair and a little table sit on the opposite side.

These can be moved out when it's time to put plants inside.  

 Liriope is my go to plant for getting new landscaping look older and established. I've found that it can be transplanted any time of the year. Using big clumps makes it look like they have always been there. 

A concrete mushroom and bunny add some garden whimsy. 

Mums and pumpkins will be fun during fall. 

The lights stay on all year. They add a little sparkle to the garden at night. 

I love seeing it when I enter the yard through the side gate. 

I like my garden to feel like it is a series of garden rooms. Different vistas and garden ornaments add interest and invite the visitor to continue a walk along the path. That is the theory anyway. We don't have a lot of visitors these days.  

That is all for now, my lovely friends. 

Please stay well. 

Katie

 Palram Nature Hybrid Hobby Green House.  I recommend getting a bigger size. This was a challenge to put together. 

Our Stock Tank Pool 

Our Sojag Messina Gazebo  Ours is 10 by 10 which is discontinued, I think. 

Hello, November/ Greenhouse Clean Up

Have you read the blog, Vibeke Design? 

If not, you should. Her images are swoon worthy. 

I always hope that we will have an autumn like the ones that she has in Norway. 

The reality in Texas never quite meets that expectation. 

The neighbor's tree has been spitting berries down into our yard. 

It started in the pool and I quickly lost patience with that. I had Bill put the pool away. 

We've cleaned up these weird berries four times. They smell almost like balsam. 

It's been a fast growing tree. The old neighbor won it somehow, I think.  

I'm happy for the shade but...

We have had a lot of rain. 

Last time I checked we had 12 inches in September and 12 inches in October. We've gotten more since then. 

The cedar wax wings usually come and eat all of the berries off of this tree in January. 

I bird watch. I seem to remember them eating off of this tree around the same time they eat all the berries off of my Yaupon Holly.  In other years, we've gotten a few berries in the yard but never like this. 

This is not a pretty fall leaf experience. 

The monstrosity below is the rug from the green house. It's caused by the berries and by the massive amounts of rain we've been having. 

Gross. Right? 

I pulled it out. I'd like to get it to thrash tomorrow but it needs to dry a bit because it's heavy. Bill cannot touch it or he'd go into an allergy fit. 

Anyway, I pulled it out and straightened up the greenhouse a bit. 

I had a fun friend while I worked. 

I've managed to keep this cyclamen alive since February. I hope it blooms again. 

To see him actually in praying position is the coolest thing. 

"Do not be anxious about anything but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."

Philippians 4:6

Thanks for stopping by. 

Katie 

The Tell All Story Of The Greenhouse

I love our green house.
It is adorable.
It's been fun to have and to decorate but there is a learning curve.

Let me begin at the beginning.
The next door neighbor is a collector of tropical plants.
Every fall her husband puts up a green house made of PVC and vinyl.
She is happy. Her plants are safe through the winter.
I asked Bill if he could get one for me.
He wasn't into the idea of taking it down and putting it up every year.
I suggested we build one out of old windows.
He wasn't into the idea of spending years looking for old windows in precisely the measurements that he would need.
He looked online and with a quick click of the mouse we had a greenhouse on its way.
It arrived 5 days later.

We spent a Saturday putting it together.
So cute!

A few weeks later he build a section of cedar shelves to house plants.

I am a lucky girl.
I loaded it full of plants. I was going to overwinter my basil, begonias, helicopter plants, geraniums and asparagus fern.

It was going to be great. My spring planting bill was going to be drastically reduced.
I added a Christmas tree to give it evening sparkle.

It was magical.

Then this happened.

Winter 2017 - January 6, 7 & 8. It was 8 degrees.
It rarely gets down to 8 degrees in Texas.
Those three days have literally been the only winter weather we have had.
I'm not sure that we've even had another freeze.
We still could but I doubt it.

Everything was tucked under a blanket but I didn't have a heater.
It all froze except one geranium and a few of my precious house plants.

I've purchased some replacements and some new fun things for early spring.
So much for the reduced planting bill this year.

There is another phenomenon going on at this point.
It was 88 the other day.
I came outside and several of my new little plantings were wilted even though the door was open and the vent was cracked.

Don't get me wrong. I love this thing. 

It is great having all my flower pots and tools in one place but clearly there is a learning curve.

It's either too cold or too hot. 

I need a happy medium. 

I'll let you know how it goes throughout the spring. 

Until then, thanks for letting me share. 

Katie 

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