3 Essential Lessons I Learned While Building a Greenhouse

My Greenhouse Journey: From a Dream to a Dilemma.

When I started gardening, I didn’t think I needed a greenhouse. It all started on a whim.  My sister is really into it and gave me some seeds and starter plants.  At first, it wasn’t that difficult. Plop a few seeds in a pot that was lying around empty in the backyard, toss some dirt in the pot and wait.  Living in zone 9, which means a lot of stuff will grow in my yard.  I quickly outgrew the few pots I had in the yard and had to make a decision, step up my game and go to the garden store for supplies, or enjoy the 2 plants that I had and be done with it.  I should have listened to my inner child and nurture the two tomato plants and be done with it.  But, of course I didn’t.

My Backyard Gardening Journey.

Several trips to the local garden store, an order with Epic Gardening and I was literally knee deep in organic soil, seedlings and seeds, grow bags and a desire to become a backyard farmer.  I grew corn, basil, tomatoes, marigolds, every herb I could think of.  I purchased these raised grow beds from Costco and set up my patch of yard into four quadrants.  Each 4×4 foot quadrant grew something different.  It was lush and glorious.  I set up a quick irrigation system and I was off and running.

The Rodent Problem.

Then I noticed my tomatoes were missing.  Then the strawberries.  I set up cameras aimed at my prized garden to see what was happening.  Rats.  Ugh and yuck at the same time.  I put up netting, they chewed through that with ease.  I bought hardware mesh and wrapped it around my boxes.  Didn’t work.  I was grossed out and defeated.  All of my hard work was being destroyed and eaten by rats. 

The Amazon Greenhouse Arrives

At the end of the summer, there was an Amazon sale and on the Lightning Deals was a greenhouse.

It wasn’t fancy, but it had polycarbonate sides on a black metal frame.  There was a little door, and a vent window at the top. 6×7.5 feet in size and about 6 feet or so in height.  It was under $199.99 with $50 off.  I bought it! It arrived a week or so later in a big flat box.

The Plan for My Greenhouse Foundation.

My plan was to thwart the rats by putting my prized plants inside of a house so they couldn’t get to my veggies.  My plan was to use hardware mesh on the bottom of the greenhouse to prevent the rats from digging under the house.  My plan was to have this cute greenhouse and string some white lights around it and have my garden be rodent free.  

At the end of the summer, I composted all of the greenery from my four raised beds.  I dug out all of the expensive organic soil and used a screen to sift out any roots.  I diligently scooped out the sifted soil and put them in empty garden bags and large trash cans.  My plan was to use them in the greenhouse for my new plants.  My former garden was now an empty 10’x10’ square of dirt, ready to receive my new greenhouse.  Or at least that was my plan.

A greenhouse needs to sit on something.  The dirt under the garden area was full of roots from the nearby redwood tree and climbing roses from the adjacent arbor.  Digging into the existing soil was not going to be feasible without disturbing the tree and roses.  This was the reason for the raised beds in the first place.  My husband came up with an option of building a wood deck to put the greenhouse upon.  This sounded like a great idea.  Since the greenhouse was only 6.5x 7’ there would be some extra space to put out a little lounge chair next to it.  This greenhouse was shaping into a nice little backyard oasis.

The Rat-Proofing Challenge.

With the supports in hand, the deck boards laid out, the next step is to build this deck.  I asked the question to my contractor/husband, “how are you planning to keep the rats out of the greenhouse with the wood deck?”.  I had done my own research and knew that I wanted to use the ½” hardwire cloth

beneath the flooring of the greenhouse to prevent the critters from digging under the greenhouse walls.  The deck was going to be about 8” off of the ground with a skirt around the entire deck.  But, the rats could still have a party, under the deck.  No, this was not going to be the solution to my problem.  The thought of families of rats nesting in the nice, 8” high basement of my greenhouse, protected from the elements, was grossing me out.  Another solution needed to be explored for my greenhouse.  I thought about “rat proofing” with a 2” layer of concrete under the wood deck.  Less expensive than pouring a 6” slab of concrete and since my husband was going to be doing the work, less concrete bags to haul from the street to the backyard.  Such an easy fix for my greenhouse.

The Tools That Will Get Me There: Block Bases and the Mud Mixer.

If you have ever tried to dig down into the ground to put in a deck foundation and there are nearby trees and an arbor with 20-year-old rose vines, then you know the attempt is futile.  There are so many roots under the soil that I had to choose between using a traditional foundation for the deck or risk killing off one or more of my trees.  Apparently, there are options available to do both.  Block Foundation Support Bases

are made of molded plastic and allow you to build your deck without having to dig into the root infested soil.  These foundation supports eliminate post hole digging and are ideal for low profile decks like the one for my greenhouse.

I saw a video online of a dad pouring foundation in his yard.  He had this great machine, that he poured a bag of dry concrete into it.  There was a hose attached, and the machine mixed the concrete to the correct consistency and then had a small chute to pour it into the foundation space. Such a neat machine!  I looked it up on Amazon and mentioned it to my husband as a way to “help” in his disdain for pouring concrete.  Much to my surprise, he had also been researching concrete mixers, and this Mud Mixer was on his radar already!  Win for the greenhouse!

It’s been over a year since I purchased the greenhouse on Amazon.  It is still in the box in the garage.  The space where it is going to go is a square of dirt, waiting to be used.  With the Mud Mixer and the Block Bases on order, it’s getting close to being completed.  As soon as my husband/contractor’s schedule frees up, my greenhouse is next on the list.  Keep you posted.

Interested in the tools and products I used? Check out my full product library on The Spotlight page.