Maybe greenhouse??

[thesunflowergal]

Hubs and I were talking about plans for the garden for next year. As always we are trying to maximise our growing space, whilest having space for the childen to play. It also needs to look pretty too. So its kind of cottagey, with fruit and veg growing around the flowers etc. Majority of things are grown it pots, as hub will not let me dig to many of the other plants up.
We have decided to get rid of the garden shed 6x4ft and a shrub 2x4ft, which is growing at the back of the shed. In their place we can either make a raised bed or get a greenhouse. I am trying to work out which would benifit us more. There seem to be pros and cons to both.
The major con of the greenhouse is cost, but I am willing to save for it and we will hopefully be ready for next year. Would the cost out weight the benefit of being able to start off plants earlier and grow toms, peppers and chilis etc? But the greenhouse would inable me to have a much needed water butt.

I would love to hear any thoughts as I am just at the planning stage. Sorry for the ramble.

Nikki

[pumpy]

Why not have a 6x4 greenhouse, & a 2x4 raised bed? We have a greenhouse that size, & you'd be surprised (with careful planning) how much stuff you can cram in! In ours we have 3 growbags on the floor (giving us space for 4 diiferent tom plants, 4 different peppers, & an aubergine) We also have some free-standing shelving for seedlings,etc. This also leaves a little floor-space for standing the watering can, & a little bit more for other seedlings. Our greenhouse base is a mixture of slabs & soil covered with pea shingle, which allows for stuff to be watered & provide drainage. Plus, of course, you can then have your butt!! Handy for watering the raised bed! Good luck.

[homegrown]

A greenhouse could be built relatively cheaply from recycled materials, if you can put up a wooden frame and use old windows and doors to make the glass it means you don't need to do any actual glass fitting or spend lots on a metal green house, or maybe find an unwanted conservatory you could put on the side of your house or shed.

add some vertical gardens and you can maximise you available growing space

[frozenthunderbolt]

Old drainpipe can make a fair vertical garden so long as you use a good liquid feed - semi hydroponic like.

[Thomzo]

I'm trying to picture where your shed is. Don't you have a bit of path between the side of your house and the garden wall? Could you put some polycarbonate roofing over this and down the remaining side to create a lean to greenhouse there, giving a bit more space for the raised bed?

Alternatively, could you replace part of the roof of the shed with some polycarbonate? It might be cheaper than buying a whole new greenhouse.

I saw an inflatable greenhouse in Kitchen Garden magazine the other day. It was only about £350 and you can put it away once the seedlings are ready. That way you could have both a raised bed and a greenhouse on the same space.

Or, how about creating a deep raised bed and putting some glass/acrylic over it to create a cold frame? Cheaper than a greenhouse. Ask double glazing companies for old windows for the cold frame.

Water butt off the hen house roof instead?
Cheers
Zoe