Where I grow my pleiones or Restoring a Victorian Greenhouse

[Maren]

Hi,
I've been working for the last three years on the restoration of a small Victorian greenhouse, built in 1907, never maintained and totally rotten through and through. It stands in a large former kitchen garden, now put to grass, and when I first came across it, it was hidden in a jungle of brambles, nettles and thistles and there were trees growing in it and through the broken glass.

I made a deal with the owner that I would be allowed to use it for free for my pleiones if I undertook the restoration. Well, he got a good deal. The worst part was that the sills were rotten and had to be replaced. It's tricky to fit something in between existing brick and metalwork. We also found that there was no symmetry, all the angles were untrue and one side was longer than the other. All the glass panes were of different measurements etc.etc. It was a bit of a nightmare.

But it was worth it. The pleiones love it and I take great pride in the result, particularly the smart staging which I designed to replace - well - there was really nothing there before.

Now this is the Little Greenhouse, there is a bigger one in front of it, about three times as large and equally decrepit.......

[Maggi Young]

Wow! What a transformation! A LOT of work, Maren, but what a super end result.... the old style is just so beautiful.  Lucky plants!

[angie]

Hi Maren , three years to turn the ugly duckling into a beautiful white swan, amazing transformation.
Thanks for showing.

Angie

[ThomasB]

Maren, that greenhouse is absolutely wonderful!

I think I would love being a Pleione growing there. 

[daveyp1970]

wow Maren i only wish i had of lived near you, one of my dreams is to restore a Victorian greenhouse,they really had the knack of building stunning greenhouses and by the looks of it your restoration job is fantastic,you lucky Devil.Did the owner have any paperwork going back to the construction of the glass house,maybe the catalogue from which it was originally chosen,or is that wishfull thinking.

[Maren]

Davey,

catalog? you must be kidding. These buildings were custom made, each one had its own design according to the customer's wishes. But the craftsmanship is quite wonderful, apart from nothing being square etc. There is a wealth of tenons and plugs to hold things together. Unfortunately they all had to be cut and replacement timber screwed into place. That's what you have to do when you take a structure, remove the middle and replace it with new timber. I'll keep you posted on what happens to the rest.

Here are some pictures of the next emergency and how far we've got. The gentleman helping me is Roy White, member of the RHS Orchid Committee, chairman of the Orchid Society of Great Britain, President of the Thames Valley Orchid Society, terrific grower of paphiopedilums, expert carpenter and most of all, a very, very nice man. He reckons we'll be tinkering (if that is the right word for a lot of hard work) with this greenhouse complex for many years to come.

[David Nicholson]

What a fantastic job, well done.

[Maren]

Thank you all. I'm glad you like it.

[LarsB]

It is just incredible. I'm green with envy, not about the work but the result. For anyone who watched 'A Victorian Kitchen Garden' in the 80'ties it is a dream come true.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

What an amazing result Maren !
Many congratulations, it's a stunning beauty !
That owner did one hell of a deal if you ask me...

[Neil]

Maren

Congratulations on the restoration of the greenhouse, it looks stunning.  Now are you going to start work on restoring the larger one?

[Martinr]

Brilliant Maren. Wonderful job.

[Pieter]

That looks really wonderful Maren. I take my hat of for that.
A greenhouse like that is every gardeners dream.
Hope you will have many years of good growth and fun with it.

Greetings

Pieter

[Maren]

Hi all,

thank you for your kind comments, they are much appreciated.

For those of you who are smitten with the beauty of the old, let me bring you down to earth (sorry!!) and tell a about a few drawbacks when using a Victorian greenhouse to grow things (pleiones) that require to be frost free and prefer temperatures less than 25C.

It works best when you live next to it, especially in spring and autumn, when you can expect cold nights and hot days. As there is no automation or electricity in "my" Victorian greenhouse, all the vents (side and top) have to be opened and closed manually. If I lived there, I would stroll to the greenhouse in the morning, say 10am, check the temperature, look at the sky, remember the weather forecast and open the vents (or not). Then around noon, I would check the temperature again, open the vents or not. ... At 4pm, I'd do the same and close the vents or I would leave it until 7pm.

As it happens I live 18 miles from this place and I don't go there every day. So if I leave the vents closed, talking about spring and autumn, night temperatures will be OK but day temperatures will be way too hot. If I leave the vents open, day temperatures will be OK but at night, the heating system (gas bottles) will have to work overtime, with the heat going out of the windows, and it would cost me a fortune. I thought about installing automatic vent openers, but the vents are so heavy, being made of timber, the openers couldn't shift them. - So on balance, I would prefer a nice aluminium greenhouse with automated vents.

I have solved the summer problem: I leave all vents open, and I take the glass out of the doors to create a draft (will someone help me with the spelling of this word please).

Anyway, since I don't have anywhere else to grow my plants, I make the best of it.

[Gail]

Wonderful of you to let us all admire your fantastic glasshouse, without having to help you with all the hard work Maren!

 draft (will someone help me with the spelling of this word please).   - the spelling you want is draught.  (A draft is a rough sketch or outline)