I am so excited! I bought a small greenhouse, and it arrived and was set up today. It is set on pressure treated 2 X 4's ( 2 high). We have wicked winds, and even though it is in a fairly protected corner of my yard, I would still like to anchor it more firmly to the ground. Any ideas how?
Also, what has worked the best for you for the floor? I can just leave it as dirt, cover with landscape fabric, or gravel it. Any recomendations? Thanks!
Donna

my honey did rebar thought the RR ties... and then used big L brackets to attach it to the frame

I used metal agars that are sold for big car port tents. You hand turn them into the ground.

I used the screw-in ground anchors as well, with big cable ties holding the frame to them.

What to put on the ground depends on how you want to use the GH, but if you don't want to plant things in the ground I would go with gravel over landscape fabric, with maybe some paver stones where you will be walking; otherwise it will be one more thing to weed!

weedwacker - what a great idea re: floor! One less thing to weed, indeed.
I'm here, not because I have room for a greenhouse, but because it's a wish-list thing....
One of these years I'll have a yard with enough room for a greenhouse.

Susan, the GH has been a great help to me for starting my seedlings (actually I start them inside under lights, then move them out to the GH around mid-April); I also put up a couple of "hoop houses" that I bought on E-bay, where I can start growing things in the ground much earlier and keep them going longer. I'm sure you can relate when I say gardening in the north can be a challenge!

It was actually the hoop houses that I used the ground anchors for -- photos of that project last year can be seen here:

http://cubits.org/greenspace/t...

I think I will need to extend my tomato growing season with hoop houses. Thank you for the reminder about them, Sandy!

It's another whole new learning curve -- but I'm starting to think I need one big one over the entire garden, not only for the temperature but the wind blocking effect! Haven't quite convinced DH about that one, tho...

(oops, looks better with "think" instead of "thing")

about needing one for the whole garden, and DH not being convinced

I'll take some of that action, too.

Paul - will U put a greenhouse over my garden? (hope, hope, hope........)
You're Not that far from me - only 10 1/2 hours!!

When I was putting up the geodesic dome greenhouse some of the neighbors came out to watch from their balcony. Eventually they called over to say that when we were done we could go put one up for them, too!

Tell you what. You come done here for the convincing and construction, and I'll go up there to help you out in return.

be careful what you wish for, you Just Might Get It!!
Wait a minute - you said "and construction"???? What would I be constructing there?!?!?!

Paul, do you have any idea how well a geodesic dome will hold up under snow load? I would think good, except for the fact that my BIL considered putting up a geodesic dome home at one point and was told that it wouldn't work well here for that reason. Sure like the looks of yours, though! Have you ever had a chance to see the Mitchell Park Domes in Milwaukee, WI (I imagine not, but you never know where people have gone) - anyway, they have 3 BIG domes with various sorts of plant habitats, really awesome!

http://county.milwaukee.gov/Mi...

They can carry significant load in theory, but like everything else the implementation details matter. Mine has been calculated to handle ~100 lbs/square foot. Partly this is due to my choice of heavy duty straps on the hub connections. On a home that needed to be able to be able to handle heavy loads I would go with a structural panel construction rather than a hub-strut frame. There is more than one way to do it, of course.

I imagine the greater concern is the flat top which won't actively shed snow, and the impact of this constant moisture on the roofing. Many domes are tightly sealed, often with exotic materials, for this reason. I love the snow here; it's just more insulation.

I haven't seen the domes in Wisconsin, but I dream of building some large botanic domes here some day. First I need some land, which gets more expensive here every year.

Susan, I don't know about your gardens, but covering all of mine is going to take some major engineering. I'll need all the labor I can get!

Well, my gardens aren't that large because I have a 16'x19' deck on the lot that has a 14' mobile home.......... and I think the lot is 10' deeper than the home, in total!
I also have a berm for the two 50' lilacs!
My yard grows in a compact space lol

I had a 8x 8 twinwall greenhouse, and it blew over backward within the first month it was up. My husband had his brother make 24" stainless steel spikes that we bolted to the frame and drove into the ground. We put Quikrete in on top of the stakes for good measure.

Even so, the greenhouse only lasted three years. There is just too much weather and wind where I am. This past Spring, I went to a local Amish shed maker and had them modify a shed for me as a greenhouse. Picture attached.

that's great!!!

The talk about whole-yard-greenhouses and domes reminded me of the L5 Society plans for space habitats: like a huge, circular hoop tunnel.

Gardens in orbit! I guess that is one way to defeat slugs and moles.

doncarchr said:I am so excited! I bought a small greenhouse, and it arrived and was set up today. It is set on pressure treated 2 X 4's ( 2 high). We have wicked winds, and even though it is in a fairly protected corner of my yard, I would still like to anchor it more firmly to the ground. Any ideas how?
Also, what has worked the best for you for the floor? I can just leave it as dirt, cover with landscape fabric, or gravel it. Any recomendations? Thanks!
Donna

We anchored ours by nailing the actual metal inside to the treated 2 x 4's. I think my husband does want to drive in some type of stakes from the 2 x4 into the ground also. For inside we put the shredded tire mulch you can buy at Home Depot. It does not attract insects, has a 12 year warranty against discoloring and is amazing to walk on. It avoids getting muddy in there when we used the mister to cool it during the heat of the day.