On 03/01/2015 18:38, Jeff Layman wrote:
On 03/01/15 15:41, Bob Hobden wrote:
I understand the National Trust is to try to bring back a significant
number
of it's walled gardens into production. My problem is that I've heard
they
intend to remake the old greenhouses as they were, all manual and in
wood,
instead of using modern materials and automation and things like double
glazing for the orchid houses. Personally I think that is crazy as the
old
Head Gardeners would never have countenanced such a retrograde step.
What do others think?

Well, if there weren't any Grade 1 or 2 listing, you could make an
argument for double glazing and LED lighting in any NT property. But
they wouldn't look right, and I guess the NT are using a similar
argument for greenhouses.

And would I want to visit such modern greenhouses to see how they were
being used to grow things? I very much doubt it.


Bit off topic but in a seventeenth century house LED lighting is no more
anachronistic than hot tungsten. Getting the colour balance right might
mean specialist sources though.