Pear Tree Cottage Garden: SURPRISE GREENHOUSE PROJECT!

Last summer whilst searching for some roofing materials on EBay, I came across some floor tiles. Yes I know! BUT! I just knew would look amazing in the greenhouse. As if that wasn't bad enough, after buying them I spotted some old cast iron grids. An even bigger bargain!! For nearly a year they all stood in the barn gathering dust and cobwebs (sniff) .....................................waiting and waiting!

Trench dug

Shuttering constructed

Shuttering in place

Last Monday - HUGE excitement!! Work began. (Why do I love a garden project SO much?) Chris Genever arrived promptly (yawn) and removed the old brick path and dug out a trench. Having lined the bottom with concrete, he made shuttering to extremely precise dimensions filling in around it with more concrete and including some planting pockets for ferns made from old plastic down pipe. Dave Melhuish called by to see what we were up to and to leave cable in place for underfloor lighting!! I was thinking of tea lights in glass lanterns but, having recovered from the shock of finding that we'd replaced the path with a deep trench; my Under Gardener totally embraced the entire project and got all masterful!! Proper lighting was called for - Gawd bless 'im!

Meanwhile, with his trusty labourer/apprentice looking more like Boris with her lockdown hair, Chris got on with laying footings for a mini brick wall to provide a very firm foundation where previously there had been a wide planting border. We reduced the width of the border in order to gain more floor space (and, as this season's tomatoes had succumbed to some form of sickness, we disposed of them in favour of carnations - on order). A traditional chequered pattern of tiling was adopted which has TOTALLY transformed the entire greenhouse.

Bringing in the floor grids

Lowering the grids into place (with lockdown hair!)

And then.............shuttering removal! The most exciting part was seeing if the grids fitted their allotted space. Chris's building was so deadly accurate, they are a perfect fit. What a star!! After a week's kneeling down, I only hope that his knees are feeling better than mine!

The plan beneath the floor grids is to have a mini fernery and plant Aspleniums & Trichomane ferns in the planting pockets. Ultimately, this will be illuminated with coloured LED strip. Actually, what IS amazing is the fact that: stacked in their piles in the barn for all those months - covered in cobwebs and ivy growing over them, the tiles didn't look too exciting. All laid and pointed, they look entirely different. Who's a VERY lucky girl?

Sometimes I think I love Victorian styles and methods FAR too much but.........not much in the way of LED lighting back then!