DIY Garden Project: Lowe’s Home Improvement Polycarbonate Greenhouse

Earlier this spring we partnered with Lowe’s Home Improvement on a new 8’ x 6’ Palram Metal Polycarbonate Greenhouse for the corner of our property, because we wanted to take our gardening to the next level.

My husband and I enjoy gardening, but he really is the master gardener. I think the earth–the living stuff of life, purpose, beauty, and love—the ground beneath his feet, centers and brings him back to nature and his walk with God. Even though you are tired, dirty, shoes full of mud, fingernails lined with dirt, you still come back to the fact that there is something that the garden teaches you about life.

We also find gardening pleasurable (when it’s not too hot outside), and for my RE readers here who get to enjoy the photos I share, our friends who come for dinner–all get to benefit from a beautiful yard.

A greenhouse would primarily mean we’d be starting our own vegetable plants, and possibly branching out, and doing more ornamental flowers in the future.

We dreamed of a greenhouse with a pea gravel bottom, loving the aesthetics and the crunchy sound under foot, and now our dream came true.

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8 features and facts:

1. Pea gravel: Dirt falls to ground, much easier to clean up.

2. Focal point: We were looking for an attractive focal point in the corner of our yard.

3. Great price: Relative to what you get, this 8×6 greenhouse is remarkable for the amount of starts that you can plant, to feed a family of 5.

4. Save money: We’ll be saving money by growing our own starts.

5. Easy instructions: Came with very straightforward instructions; one person can put most of it together (may need another set of hands in a few steps).

6. Set up: We learned to set the greenhouse up on level ground, then move it over to the designated area. It has an easy frame assembly with SmartLock connectors and pre-assembled doors and windows.

7. Very happy with the craftsmanship of the product. Arrives in 2 small boxes.

8. Crystal clear with unbreakable polycarbonate panels allow over 90% light transmission.

Out with the old.

We started by taking down the old greenhouse that we had for years and clearing the area. This was a sentimental experience, because my husband had put this greenhouse together with his father about 15 years ago, on our old property, but it since has torn and was literally falling apart.

Assemblying.

We then built a pad with pressure treated 2×4’s and 4×4’s, and added pea gravel to the space.

We made sure to put enough dirt in the 4 corners, so the stakes would go into the dirt and not the pea gravel.

Haggis and Filly approved – our pets are always hanging out with us in the yard when something new is happening!

The inside.

We picked up new shelves a tin garbage can for NEW potting soil. We really recommend potting soil for the starters because it’s easy to use, and the smell from the peat moss is awesome!

Drip system and ventilation.

Put the greenhouse in a place where there is already water available. We’ll eventually be hooking up a drip system. That way we won’t be spraying the walls of the greenhouse (with a hose).

You can vent the greenhouse 2 ways, depending on how much heat is produced inside, and how you want to cool it down. Window on top, window in the door.

From greenhouse, to garden, to table.

Our goal is to keep it as clean as we can.

And eventually have enough starts to put into the garden area, grow our produce, then harvest for a delicious meal to share with family and friends!

There is nothing quite like a meal that is served from our own garden.

Guests love the story behind the recipes, and we all benefit from the nutritional value and knowing exactly where the food has come from!

From greenhouse, to garden, to table.

What 3 types of starts would you grow if you had a greenhouse?

This post is sponsored by Lowe’s Home Improvement, who provided us with the product.