BUILD A GREENHOUSE EXTEND YOUR GROWING SEASON BY MONTHS!

Here in the Upper Midwest, the gardening season is short, typically May through September. By building a greenhouse, H we can harness the sun's rays to let plants thrive as early as March and extend harvest into late fall. A greenhouse is also a great place to store less hardy plants during harsh winters. Even if you live in a more temperate region, a greenhouse will create a perfect climate for plants, protecting them from temperature swings, storms and pests. We built our greenhouse from cedar, which weathers beautifully, and polycarbonate sheets, which diffuse the sunlight and give even exposure to all the plants.

- MIKE BERNER

MEET THE BUILDER

MIKE BERNER ENJOYS WRAPPING HIS HEAD AROUND PROJECTS OF ALL SIZES AND HELPING PEOPLE BUILD COOL STUFF.

1 BUILD THE FOUNDATION

We removed 8 in. of topsoil to make room for our base layer of rock. We leveled and compacted the dirt, rolled out heavy-duty landscape fabric, then added at least a 2-in. layer of 3/4-in. limestone. Next we created a mini retaining wall using landscaping timbers. We placed, leveled and squared three sides of the retaining wall, leaving the fourth side off until most of the rock was dumped.

We secured the timbers at the corners with 8-in. timber screws and fastened a pressure-treated board to keep the timbers together at the seams. When most of the rock was dumped and evenly spread, we built the fourth side. Then we leveled off and compacted the rock with a tamper.

2 BUILD THE SIDE AND BACK WALLS

To build the walls, we used pressure-treated 2x4s for bottom plates and cedar 2x4s for top plates. We cut them to the length of each wall and marked the stud layout on them. Because the studs will be visible inside and outside, we wanted the walls to be symmetrical, so we found the center of the wall and marked the studs every 16 in. on-center from there. We nailed the cedar 2x4 studs through the plates and then fastened a second bottom plate. After tipping up each wall, we kept it plumb with braces at each corner and nailed the corners together, making sure the top plates were flush on top.