We've got a small suburban garden, with no room for a greenhouse. I've
already got a timber planthouse (one of the Haxnick's ones), but it didn't
make it through the winter very well.

I'm thinking of replacing it with an aluminium one and I've found a couple
of possibles:

Parasene Gro-House (79.95 GBP)
http://www.diytools.co.uk/diy/Main/P...roductID=37719

Lean to Plant house (130 GBP)
http://www.rootrainers.co.uk/supplie...lanthousesmall

There's quite a price difference, and I'm not sure if spending the extra is
worth it. It's mainly used for bringing on spring bedding plants, although
I may be tempted to try chillis and peppers through the summer. It needs to
be relatively easy to move round the garden for when it's not in use. I do
quite like the thought of the sliding doors on the pricier one as it means I
don't need to worry about gusts of wind blowing them open.

Would appreciate any thoughts from the FOAK, especially if you've got one of
them or any alternate suggestions.
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NK
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"WRabbit"wrote in message
We've got a small suburban garden, with no room for a greenhouse. I've
already got a timber planthouse (one of the Haxnick's ones), but it didn't
make it through the winter very well.

I'm thinking of replacing it with an aluminium one and I've found a couple
of possibles:

Parasene Gro-House (79.95 GBP)
http://www.diytools.co.uk/diy/Main/P...roductID=37719

Lean to Plant house (130 GBP)
http://www.rootrainers.co.uk/supplie...lanthousesmall

They both look pretty good value for money as polycarb sheeting, is
expensive stuff.
I purchased a polethene sheeted lean-to at a garden centre for about £25,
but I only got 2 years out of it, when the plastic goes brittle and splits.
Bertie

Broadback wrote:
DIY do not give dimensions, I have emailed them asking what they are.
I have used Roottrainers, and to date am happy with their service. sorry I
can't be more help, will post here when/if I get DIY's
dimensions.

The one at DIYtools is the Parasene one he
http://www.parasene.com/products/listProds.asp?catID=51
Height, Width & Depth (mm): 1000 x 770 x 390

So it's smaller than the roottrainers one:
Width 100cm x Depth 45cm x 145cm Front Height/155cm Rear Height

I've tried to have a look at them in a few 'real' shops, but haven't found
them anywhere. I think I'll save up and get the roottrainers one. The
extra size could be useful, and I'd prefer the sliding doors.

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"jane" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 10 May 2006 21:37:46 +0100, "WRabbit"
wrote:

~We've got a small suburban garden, with no room for a greenhouse. I've
~already got a timber planthouse (one of the Haxnick's ones), but it
didn't
~make it through the winter very well.

I had one of the large Haxnicks ones too, though fortunately it was
originally a cheap second off Ebay and I had to do a bit of redrilling
to get it constructed in the first place.


Snap

It has recently encountered a large amount of Evostik waterproof
outdoor wood glue, and seems now to be fairly sturdy again (after the
top fell apart due to swelling wood, as did one of the front doors!)

I had painted it with preservative, too!

AOL. My problem is the side walls have distorted enough that they've pulled
away from the polycarbonate, so there are gaps down the sides now. Again
because of this general distortion the bottom shelf tends to only rest on 3
out of the 4 supports. After it collapsed for the 3rd time sending plant
trays everywhere I've just removed it.

The Haxnicks cold frame (another Ebay second) that I bought is now through
it's second winter and is fantastic - that's what made me buy the plant
house.

They are pushing this for hobby gardeners: not good value unless you
can get one cheap. Thanks for the links - will come in handy when the
growhouse finally rots too much for me to reconstruct it!!

I'll post back and let you know how I get on if you're interested. Waiting
till end of month - May is *so* expensive for the garden.

Now, if I could only stop the snails from crawling up and over into
the open top and eating my hardening-off seedlings...

I went for slug pellets round the base. I had reasonable success with the
copper tape round some pots last year, so careful application to the
planthouse might work.

WRabbit wrote:
"jane" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 10 May 2006 21:37:46 +0100, "WRabbit"
wrote:

~We've got a small suburban garden, with no room for a greenhouse. I've
~already got a timber planthouse (one of the Haxnick's ones), but it
didn't
~make it through the winter very well.

I had one of the large Haxnicks ones too, though fortunately it was
originally a cheap second off Ebay and I had to do a bit of redrilling
to get it constructed in the first place.


Snap

It has recently encountered a large amount of Evostik waterproof
outdoor wood glue, and seems now to be fairly sturdy again (after the
top fell apart due to swelling wood, as did one of the front doors!)

I had painted it with preservative, too!

AOL. My problem is the side walls have distorted enough that they've pulled
away from the polycarbonate, so there are gaps down the sides now. Again
because of this general distortion the bottom shelf tends to only rest on 3
out of the 4 supports. After it collapsed for the 3rd time sending plant
trays everywhere I've just removed it.

The Haxnicks cold frame (another Ebay second) that I bought is now through
it's second winter and is fantastic - that's what made me buy the plant
house.

They are pushing this for hobby gardeners: not good value unless you
can get one cheap. Thanks for the links - will come in handy when the
growhouse finally rots too much for me to reconstruct it!!

I'll post back and let you know how I get on if you're interested. Waiting
till end of month - May is *so* expensive for the garden.

Now, if I could only stop the snails from crawling up and over into
the open top and eating my hardening-off seedlings...

I went for slug pellets round the base. I had reasonable success with the
copper tape round some pots last year, so careful application to the
planthouse might work.


Still had no reply from DIY re the size, so that is them out for me,
especially as I have used Rootrainers and found them efficient.

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"Broadback" wrote in message
Still had no reply from DIY re the size, so that is them out for me,
especially as I have used Rootrainers and found them efficient.


Looks like the DIY at the bottom of this page
http://www.cmsgardens.co.uk/propagator.htm

BD