Up, Up and hopefully not away.... My Polytunnel
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This area is for Reference and discussion of plant hardiness, overwintering methods and tips, and planr protection.
This area is for Reference and discussion of plant hardiness, overwintering methods and tips, and planr protection.
- Dave Brown
- Site Admin
- Posts: 19742
- Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2006 10:17 am
- Location: Chalk, (Thames Estuary) Kent, England 51.5N 0.3E
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Up, Up and hopefully not away.... My Polytunnel
Chapter 1 - Preparation, Base and Erection.
This project started in January 2008, but that was the year of the wet weekend, and ground work was just not possible most of the time. The idea was to erect a polytunnel at the top of the garden, which had been an under used area for most of the last 25 years.
Work started in ernest in March 2009 with the cutting back of the Elderberry shrubs and digging out much of the overgrown hedge. Work had to stop in late April as other beds needed work before summer planting could be started. Then the Arid bed was created finally finishing in July. Then there were 200 bags of clay dug out and taken to the dump, to level the area, followed by a general garden tidy before the Mega Party in August. Work finally started again the last week in August. Plants were dug out from where the poly is going, potted up, and will be planted in the bed next spring. Plants removed and ground levelled The base was secured by 12 x 75 x 75 posts sunk 30cm into the ground with 10cm protruding. This will raise the polytunnel giving an internal height of 2.3m (7'6"). These were cemented into place using postcrete, a very quick drying post mortar. You fill the hole 1/3 full of water, pour on the postcrete until all the water is absorbed, then you have about 2 minutes to position the post vertically before the post crete starts to set. Here is the base in place with the sideboards in place. Next the top ledge was added as the platform the legs would sit on and that the cover wouls be battened to... but disaster struck and we had the first heavy rain for many weeks soaking the ground. The dust like clay turned into a brown equivelent of blu-tac with about 1cm sticking to shoes with every footstep. Work was almost impossible as the shoes became very heavy after a couple of steps. Then I had a brain wave. I had to trim the Trachies lower leaves anyway, so I'd use them as a ground sheet to avoid walking on the clay Frame parially erected. At this point I was worried about it's strength and would have happily paid £10 or £15 for a more substantial diameter pole However having said that I have paid £10 more for the DIY base, than I paid for the Polytunnel Next I had to add the cover before raising the poly to it's full height as I could not reach easily. As the cover is fitted, shape wise, it is not the easiest thing to get into final position on your own. This took about 20 minutes of tweaking to get right. I was running out of daylight so had to work fast to get the sides battened down. Although the night was due to be calm. I finally got the sides battened finishing in the dark The next day I battened the ends but these were a bit more difficult due to door positioning. View from inside Chapter 2 insulation to follow
This project started in January 2008, but that was the year of the wet weekend, and ground work was just not possible most of the time. The idea was to erect a polytunnel at the top of the garden, which had been an under used area for most of the last 25 years.
Work started in ernest in March 2009 with the cutting back of the Elderberry shrubs and digging out much of the overgrown hedge. Work had to stop in late April as other beds needed work before summer planting could be started. Then the Arid bed was created finally finishing in July. Then there were 200 bags of clay dug out and taken to the dump, to level the area, followed by a general garden tidy before the Mega Party in August. Work finally started again the last week in August. Plants were dug out from where the poly is going, potted up, and will be planted in the bed next spring. Plants removed and ground levelled The base was secured by 12 x 75 x 75 posts sunk 30cm into the ground with 10cm protruding. This will raise the polytunnel giving an internal height of 2.3m (7'6"). These were cemented into place using postcrete, a very quick drying post mortar. You fill the hole 1/3 full of water, pour on the postcrete until all the water is absorbed, then you have about 2 minutes to position the post vertically before the post crete starts to set. Here is the base in place with the sideboards in place. Next the top ledge was added as the platform the legs would sit on and that the cover wouls be battened to... but disaster struck and we had the first heavy rain for many weeks soaking the ground. The dust like clay turned into a brown equivelent of blu-tac with about 1cm sticking to shoes with every footstep. Work was almost impossible as the shoes became very heavy after a couple of steps. Then I had a brain wave. I had to trim the Trachies lower leaves anyway, so I'd use them as a ground sheet to avoid walking on the clay Frame parially erected. At this point I was worried about it's strength and would have happily paid £10 or £15 for a more substantial diameter pole However having said that I have paid £10 more for the DIY base, than I paid for the Polytunnel Next I had to add the cover before raising the poly to it's full height as I could not reach easily. As the cover is fitted, shape wise, it is not the easiest thing to get into final position on your own. This took about 20 minutes of tweaking to get right. I was running out of daylight so had to work fast to get the sides battened down. Although the night was due to be calm. I finally got the sides battened finishing in the dark The next day I battened the ends but these were a bit more difficult due to door positioning. View from inside Chapter 2 insulation to follow
Best regards
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
Re: Up, Up and hopefully not away.... My Polytunnel
Well done Dave it looks good, especially as you did it all on your own.
PS. What's going on the floor? Decking?
PS. What's going on the floor? Decking?
Re: Up, Up and hopefully not away.... My Polytunnel
looks worth all that effort. Its a clever idea recycling all those palm leaves very ingenious.
- Dave Brown
- Site Admin
- Posts: 19742
- Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2006 10:17 am
- Location: Chalk, (Thames Estuary) Kent, England 51.5N 0.3E
- Contact:
Re: Up, Up and hopefully not away.... My Polytunnel
Thanks Eddy
Unfortunately the Poly was a bit intrusive in that part of the garden where only shrubs and trees had been before. so I built a screen to help mask it. Screen under construction Screen complete The soil was dug out around the edges and polystyrene added to a depth of 20cm to insulate the sides and soil. Next came the bubblewrap. This has been tucked under the frame which is not the best method, but is the only way I can see of keeping it up. I started at the top and worked down the sides, this ensures that the overlaps stop rising heat going under the insulation. The door insulation was is a continuous piece of the ridge insulation to stop it pulling off when pushed out of the way when using the doors. I have laid a border membrane to stop weeds and to reduce humidity and condensation over the winter. The membrane acts as a mulch allowing water to drain through but stopping moisture from seeping back up from the damp ground into the poly. The lower 60cm of the sides are covered with 25mm polystyrene to help stop heat loss and reflect light and finally 50mm of shingle as flooring My polytunnel
Unfortunately the Poly was a bit intrusive in that part of the garden where only shrubs and trees had been before. so I built a screen to help mask it. Screen under construction Screen complete The soil was dug out around the edges and polystyrene added to a depth of 20cm to insulate the sides and soil. Next came the bubblewrap. This has been tucked under the frame which is not the best method, but is the only way I can see of keeping it up. I started at the top and worked down the sides, this ensures that the overlaps stop rising heat going under the insulation. The door insulation was is a continuous piece of the ridge insulation to stop it pulling off when pushed out of the way when using the doors. I have laid a border membrane to stop weeds and to reduce humidity and condensation over the winter. The membrane acts as a mulch allowing water to drain through but stopping moisture from seeping back up from the damp ground into the poly. The lower 60cm of the sides are covered with 25mm polystyrene to help stop heat loss and reflect light and finally 50mm of shingle as flooring My polytunnel
Best regards
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
Re: Up, Up and hopefully not away.... My Polytunnel
looks really good, very professional job and great idea to publish it as a how-to guide. how long do these type of pollytunels last for, presumably with a strong base its quite a long time
- Dave Brown
- Site Admin
- Posts: 19742
- Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2006 10:17 am
- Location: Chalk, (Thames Estuary) Kent, England 51.5N 0.3E
- Contact:
Re: Up, Up and hopefully not away.... My Polytunnel
I'm basing mine on a 3 year life, but this was about 1/5th of the cost of a proper polytunnel, hopefully the base will last a lot longer.
Ebay Item: 150382038406
Ebay Item: 150382038406
Best regards
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
Re: Up, Up and hopefully not away.... My Polytunnel
Great work Dave and it won't be long before it's full
Re: Up, Up and hopefully not away.... My Polytunnel
Looking good Dave,don't suppose you fancy popping round and insulating mine do you?
Have you had any problems with your cats climbing up it yet?
Have you had any problems with your cats climbing up it yet?
Re: Up, Up and hopefully not away.... My Polytunnel
great pics dave really helps to see whats gon into what you have done i am sure it will be much eisier for others now!! if only i had the room
- redsquirrel
- Posts: 12169
- Joined: Thu Feb 26, 2009 8:35 pm
- Location: bristol
- Contact:
Re: Up, Up and hopefully not away.... My Polytunnel
my first one lasted a year then disintegrated.dont think they are as uv treated as they say. got some heavy duty repair tape for the new one and a spare cover incase of any disasters over winter.the bubblewrap is going up in ours this weekend.thanks for showing how you did it dave,i was wondering how to get it to stay up in the right shape
mars ROVER broken down. headgasket faillure
- Dave Brown
- Site Admin
- Posts: 19742
- Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2006 10:17 am
- Location: Chalk, (Thames Estuary) Kent, England 51.5N 0.3E
- Contact:
Re: Up, Up and hopefully not away.... My Polytunnel
I hope it lasts more than a year Darren
I hadn't thought of it being a course on bubblewrapping, but the problem you may have is the tension of the poly. When I had a proper polytunnel many years ago I could not get the bubblewrap between the frame and the poly as it was too tight
I hadn't thought of it being a course on bubblewrapping, but the problem you may have is the tension of the poly. When I had a proper polytunnel many years ago I could not get the bubblewrap between the frame and the poly as it was too tight
Best regards
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
Re: Up, Up and hopefully not away.... My Polytunnel
Looks realy good Dave how big is it strong base on it . I just havent got the room .
Re: Up, Up and hopefully not away.... My Polytunnel
I shall watch the gale warnings for southeast England with interest from now on . . .
Re: Up, Up and hopefully not away.... My Polytunnel
nice one dave
very intuitive with the pics, hope it lasts a few years. i'm sure there must be a way to make a new cover even if it involves a massive sheet of clear plastic and a few folds!
cheers
lee
very intuitive with the pics, hope it lasts a few years. i'm sure there must be a way to make a new cover even if it involves a massive sheet of clear plastic and a few folds!
cheers
lee