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Just a thought. I am considering building a poly tunnel this autumn but my main bug bear is i would have to look at it in the summer. could plant bamboo to screen it, or what about having one that could be taken down in spring and put up again in autumn. does anyone do this?

its possible to take it down and move it if you need to, but they polythene will end up ripping and you'll need to replace it more often, which can be expensive. but its totally possible, which is why its better than a greenhouse as its portable.

http://doorgarden.com/10/50-dollar-hoop ... reen-house
these very clear plans would make a good removable setup. agree the main problem would be the sheet ripping but i was thinking of making a very small one first off so the loss wouldn't be great.

I wouldn't contemplate taking down and erecting a polytunnel every 6 months, too much work and unless your garden is very sheltered in order to make it easy to dismantle the resulting polytunnel is likely to be ripped apart in the first gale. Also don't you need the polytunnel as much in summer as winter.
why not try to make it invisible by not using the normal whitish polythene but use crystal clear stuff.

...or cover it with the green shade netting. One of our jobs to do this summer is to build a poly tunnel, but because it's too hot here in the summer, we plan to roll up the plastic sheeting at the sides, so that air can pass though and put shade netting over the top. Come winter the shade netting will be removed and the sides let down and retied.

all good ideas. gra, it's in the summer that i wouldn't want it around. do you actually use it at all in the summer contadina?

Possibly for tropical plants, which I wouldn't mind having a go at, plus a lot of plants get scorched here in the summer, so it would be nice to have a shadier option.

around this region, the Balkans and Mediterranean ect, people use the poly tunnels to produce salads ect over winter, very early crops and late crops. once july/august hits the last crops are beeing harvested and the ground prepared and planted with new seedlings for the late crops. the tunnel needs to be kept open at each end and its possible too to roll up the sides all the way round so it ends up just being a canopy. its needs plenty of water to stop everything frying inside though, but having all the sides rolled up should help prevent this, as long as you water thoroughly everyday.

Safronsue, that's a terrible design you posted. Look what happened to it!
http://doorgarden.com/01/hoop-house-gre ... w-collapse
Screening or shade netting is definitely the way to go.

tragic ! but in defense, the maker does explain where the design failed. it was too low and flat which allowed snow to sit on the top and not slide off, and also it lacked the longways top brace which just meant the structure buckled in the middle. it is explained in the original plans i posted. i agree a screen would be the best option though and it's not like we are lacking space. have you got a poly tunnel? what plans did you go with hedgewizard?