Now that the greenhouse has been constructed, it’s time to start on the landscaping. I have done so many Google image searches for greenhouse landscaping, trying to get ideas for what I’d like to do. I am writing this post after I’ve already started on some of the landscaping, and a few of the things I’d originally planned have changed. These were the original ideas I had, and I will share the updated plans with you as I go.
Please excuse the scribble in the image below. 😆 I just wanted to do a rough sketch to show what I’d originally planned.
Front of the Greenhouse
- DIY paver walkway with a step.
- Elephant ears to hide the area behind the greenhouse. {I know the image doesn’t look like an elephant ear, but Photoshop didn’t have an elephant ear shape. I’m working with what I’ve got and what I can find.}
- Small flower beds to help hide the 4×4 framing.
- Arbor trellis bench (building it myself), turned more toward the left, towards the paver walkway. I have already ordered climbing roses to go on each side of the trellis.
Left Side of the Greenhouse
- Wide flower bed to accommodate the yellow daylilies I got from my parents in 2010. They’re actually not too far from this spot – about 3-4 feet to the right of the old fence post in the far right of this picture.
Backside of Greenhouse
- A flower bed on the backside of the greenhouse; I’m not sure what I’ll plant in it yet.
- A potting bench I will build myself, because after building the benches in the greenhouse, I realized they were too low to do anything for a long period of time without hurting my back from bending over. I was originally going to put the potting bench up against the back of the greenhouse where the flower bed will be, but I realized it would block some sun in the late afternoon/evening and didn’t want to do that.
- Compost bin that I will build myself.
- Yellow canna lilies: these came with the house when we moved here in 2009 and were planted elsewhere (close to our property line). The summer of 2014 was the first time I actually saw them bloom. I don’t think they did well where they were planted because it was too shaded. I finally dug them up in May of last year when they started coming back up and put them in a container on our back deck with the intentions of planting them somewhere around the greenhouse this year when it was finished. They did wonderful in full sun with some fertilizer! I can’t wait to see how they do in the ground in full sun.
I will say that the plans for the back of the greenhouse have completely changed, but I am still thinking it out and planning that part. It will be the last area I work on as far as general landscaping goes.
Right Side of Greenhouse
- So on the right side of the greenhouse, I plan to put a rain barrel so I can fill my watering cans to water the greenhouse plants. I don’t plan to get one in this ugly brown color; it’s just here to show where it will go. I originally wanted to put a rain barrel on the back right corner (at the other end of this side of the greenhouse), but the greenhouse is tilted ever so slightly forward, so the water will more than likely drain that way. I don’t know what I’m going to do about the gutter drain hole on the left side of the door. I will figure that out eventually.
- These are the elephant ears I plan to plant to hide this area (shown in my first picture of the front of the greenhouse).
And there you have it! My initial plans and ideas for the greenhouse landscaping. As I complete each project, I will share my experiences with you!
