Greenhouse or Raised Beds

I would like some advice on whether to buy a greenhouse or raised bed,I’ve a fairly sheltered space about 8x5 feet to play with,I would like to grow some basic food and vegetables,and some flowers for my hanging baskets,,What would the forum recommend?I would like to say that I’ve a lot of double glazing glass panels that I kept when my new windows were put in,is glass the best for a raised bed or your greenhouse,All help would be appreciated,as well as some links,

Yours Kindly Paul

 

Hi @paulkane1 . A raised bed isn't the same as a greenhouse, so do you mean a cold frame rather than a raised bed?
They aren't the same thing, but a cold frame does a similar job to a gr'house, in that it offers protection for seeds/seedling/young plants over winter. It doesn't have the height that a gr'house has, so isn't suitable for growing, or allowing to grow, anything taller. A cold frame will work for hanging basket plants, as they're small, and old windows are fine for creating one, assuming you can make the frame fairly easily yourself. Some timber, or concrete blocks/bricks can be put together for the main body of it, but you need to ensure you can raise and lower the top fairly easily. It's also best if it has a sloping top, as it allows a bit more height, and therefore more space for airflow, but also better light for plants.
Not all veg needs a gr'house either, so your location, and the type of food you want to eat will also determine what you grow - no point growing things that you don't like eating! Some things can be grown easily outside in milder areas, whereas they may need protection if you're in a colder/wetter area. Tomatoes are a good example of that.

 

Unless you are wanting to keep and grow very tender plants that really need a greenhouse, we would suggest building a cold frame as @fairygirl suggests and use the other half of that area for growing veg etc.
A cold frame with an easy to raise top can be almost as good if not better than some of these small and cheap plastic covered tent type of greenhouses.

Do you need a raised bed ? if you soil is decent then just looking after will probably return good results.
If you make a raised bed and fill it with light compost etc as many do, ( better with good top soil) it can drain away too fast and need very regular watering or your crops will be very poor as we have found.

 

Thanks kindly for your reply

 

If I build a raised bed,what vegetables can I grow in it,if I put quality top soil in it ,the size of the bed will be about 6feet x 4 feet,I like cabbages,parsnips,potatoes,and a small herb part,Will I need to cover the top of the raised bed,any good links on building a proper raised bed.

 

Where do live roughly, this will help us know what sort of weather you might get, for example I'm in NE Scotland, so I grow differently to how I did when I lived in the Midlands of England. Different temperatures, even different length of daylight.

 

I'd go for a greenhouse every time, because of the benefits all year round.

I'm a greenhouse newbie, got one when I bought my house about a year ago. Even though the glass was mostly broken and hastily repaired with plastic film and duct tape, it kept my cuttings, overwintering seedlings (Ammi, Cornflower etc), perennial plugs and various small pots out of the harm's way over last winter.

In the spring I was able to transfer seedlings from windowsills into the greenhouse quite early, and sow hardy annuals in containers in March.

During this summer the GH has been devoted to tomatoes, chillies, cucumbers and peppers with great success (for me that is, after growing them outdoors all my life)

My hardies i.e. beetroot, carrots, celery, turnips and so on grow in open ground between perennial flowers and in my makeshift (uncovered) raised bed.

Greenhouse is a bliss, go for it @paulkane1

 

6x4 is a good sized bed, though you will need access from both sides as leaning over 2ft can be a bit of a stretch, you do not want to be standing on the soil.
Assume you do not need it really high due to a disabliity, you can build it as high as you like, from 6" upwards, partly depending if you have any decent soil at ground level or concrete ?
If its on reasonable soil, 6 to 12" high should be fine.

No need for a cover as such, though in early Spring you can cover the top with black plastic to help the soil warm up and / or use some glass to make a cloche to protect early crops.

Construction, so many ways though for a smaller space you can buy ready made units
eg https://www.suttons.co.uk/garden-ge...MI27_0ytKhjwMVqZNQBh2rOw9YEAQYAiABEgLG7fD_BwE

We built ours using treated timber fencing gravel boards, cheaper from a timber yard, or as some do using decking boards.
Either way, line the inside of the timber with thick plastic sheet to help reduce rotting.

As for crops, so many to try , tatties as good one, but Parsnips can be tricky to get going and like a very deep soil.
Cabbages and anything similar like Cauiliflower, Sprouts are very big plants and you would only get a few in your patch which would need a netted frame as the caterpillers will decimate them!

Try easier things like the tatties, carrots, turnips, beetroot and any salad crop you fancy.
French or Runner beans also easy to grow.

Herbs will probably be fine as they usually like dryer conditions, things like Chives, Thyme etc will do well around the edge of the bed.
Mint should be place in its own pot to contain its roots as it will spead all over otherwise.

Dont forget things like Strawberries, again an easy and fruitful crop.

 

It's why I asked for location @burnie. I don't think people realise the differences around the UK at all when it comes to the viability of planting without protection. There's a bit of a difference growing in the Hebrides as opposed to a sheltered town garden in the south of England!
Many crops don't need protection unless you want earlier/later crops @paulkane1, so a greenhouse has to be carefully considered - it's a vast outlay. It's not always necessary for smaller hanging basket plants either - a cold frame will do the job. Cold frames are easy enough to construct, as I mentioned earlier, but you can also buy them ready made.
A raised bed can be very basic too - sleepers for example, and if you just make the bed to the size they already are, you don't need special equipment to cut them. You can get 3 foot and 6 foot lengths. Ordinary fencing timber is the easiest of all, and a 6inch height will give a decent enough depth for many plants/veg. You just need some battens at the corners, and maybe one half way along the length, fixed into the ground for stability. It's the growing medium that matters most.
If you want potatoes, it would need to be higher, as mentioned, and you may want proper posts for corners, concreted in, depending on the overall size. All my raised beds are timber, at various heights, but they're mainly for ornamentals. I sometimes grow veg in among those. Rocket for example, as I leave it to flower later in the season, and collect the seed. It's also excellent for many insects - bees love it.
You can also have a cover for raised beds - making them more like a mini polytunnel. Again, in exposed, colder sites, that can be very useful, because soil takes longer to warm up. That's another thing that people forget about the differences around the country. The amount of daylight is another factor for seed sowing- fewer hours of daylight in spring the further north you are.

I don't grow things like cabbage, but some veg needs a crop rotation so that disease doesn't build up. You'd get help with that from those who grow the various susceptible types, but potatoes fall into that category, along with some brassicas.

 

I'm wondering why you'd buy anything in this particular situation. Is there a reason not to just plant into the ground?
As others have said, it depends on the particular climate.
Personally I'd cover the area with cardboard, mulch with free local manure, or/and compost/leafmold/whatever other organic matters is easy to get hold of, and plant into it.

 

I'm curious as to why you are limited to such a small area ? Even with 'squarefoot gardening' you will not grow many of the varieties you mention. With supermarkets selling these staples so cheaply, why bother?
If its just for 'sport' then choose one and concentrate upon it; to grow 6 cabbages say to harvest, you will likely need to raise 30, transplant 20, which spaced will fill best part of the 8x5 area, and hopefully get 10 of any use .