Building a Summer Greenhouse

Indoor orchid growing is convenient in our Wisconsin weather, but she was noticing that some species were ‘unhappy’. She felt they needed to be outdoors in natural light and air movement in at least the summer months.

The idea was good, but just leaving the plants outdoors with a family of chipmunks and frequently visiting deer was not appealing.

Finally decided to build an outdoor greenhouse just for the summer months. She chose a 10’×20’ arched frame made of interlocking steel tubes. The base was more challenging as she wanted draiange with a fairly solid base so opted for a brick enclosed pit filled with pea-gravel and reinforced with plastic pallets.

Then came the covering for the structure, which is wire netting covered with various types of shade cloth and a small area with a diffuser for plants that need more shade.

Turned out to be quite an endeavour requiring 4 days of intensive labor.

The cattaleya’s have sent her a thank you note!

The Sidekick