As spring turns to summer, my thoughts turn to the unwieldy beast at the end of my garden.
I speak, of course, of my greenhouse.
When we first moved in, I planned, immediately, to replace it with something sophisticated like this:
Then I saw the price tag.
And so, I must reconcile myself to living for the next few years at least with this:
It’s not pretty is it?
And, at 15ft by 12ft, it is taking up almost a third of my garden.
Eventually, I will put in something smaller and build some raised veg beds in the area freed up. But for now, until I have a spare couple of thousand pounds, I plan to do everything I can to prettify the beast…
Luckily, there is plenty of inspiration out there. Here are a few of my favourite dilapidated yet lovely garden buildings. Because, hey, everyone loves aspirational gardening, don’t they?
It perhaps won’t surprise you to hear that I do have a collection of old rusty watering cans. So this first picture is brilliantly achievable for me:
And never mind that this shed will soon collapse under the weight of the tree branch; it’s light, airy and full of stunning old gardening related props. And plants, of course. Plants are a must in the greenhouse.
Yup, note to self, more plants needed. Currently, my greenhouse just houses seedlings, but something bigger would look rather nice:
I also have a couple of old wooden crates (left by the previous owners) and am starting to realise that filling them with plants and displaying them outside the greenhouse is an absolute must. (In practical terms, this would actually be a great way of hardening off plants as well…)
And I’ve saved one of my favourites til last. Fairy lights! You’d think electricity and somewhere that’s regularly watered wouldn’t mix, but hey, fairylight the crap out of the place and it will almost certainly look artful and atmospheric instead of old and tumbledown. (Note to readers, fairylight your greenhouses at your own risk!)
I’m planning on creating some similar artful little garden vignettes around the greenhouse over this summer, so I’ll share some photos of the results soon.
Watch this (heavily styled) space!
And if you’re as much a sucker as I am for the artfully distressed in the garden, I have hundreds more glorious photos over on my Pinterest board Dream garden plans. Click below to check it out…
Wolves in London 
Artfully distressed is much the best way to go, in my opinion! The posh one looks exactly like one some friends of mine who moved from London to Oxfordshire were given as a housewarming. They did say these friends were incredibly rich. Personally, I prefer what you have already, even if it is a little decrepit! (Please activate your like button, pretty please!)
At least your greenhouse is in your garden! I realise that you might think that this is a basic requirement – however ours is in our kitchen (where I trip over it every day)! We were given a new greenhouse for a wedding present in 2012 (all our friends and family clubbed together). It was delivered in two large boxes and several panes of glass – hubby let them leave the glass in the back garden (propped against the shed and on the table) but wanted to keep the boxes dry inside temporarily whilst he built a suitable base. Initially he wanted to lay them down the stairs but I felt that this was asking for trouble (besides I couldn’t find the life insurance policy). I reluctantly agreed to have them in the kitchen just for two weeks – but that was two years ago! The base was measured out and wooden shuttering built for the concrete to be poured then we ran out of money, so we still have an internal greenhouse! I ought to say that we only have a very small two bed house with a galley style kitchen and it’s now impossible to pass anyone in the kitchen without climbing over boxes. Nor can I get in half of the cupboards as the boxes stop the doors from opening.
I strongly recommend that you stick with the one that you’ve got outside!
Ha ha ha, that is officially the best greenhouse story I have ever heard! That definitely makes my greenhouse seem very impressive indeed — in the right place and *fully* assembled already!
Oh my such fab visions! I *may* have gone on a repining spree from your board a moment ago in a moment of greenhouse-frenzy!
Your greenhouse will be great with a little work and definitely festoon it with fairy lights but get the outdoor battery powered ones … much safer, I think! Bee xx