Care for your greenhouse in high winds

Dear Blogger

This information came to me from a company selling greenhouses but could still be useful to newgardeners.  Many years ago we were in that situation - inexperienced gardeners who suffered greenhosue damage in high winds, so do follow the advice during the autumn gales.

Care for your greenhouse in high winds

Strong winds will make their way across the UK this week as storm Ellen comes in bringing some wet and windy conditions.  It looks as though the high winds may cause some damage. Although this won't be the worst storm we've had, your greenhouse can be more vulnerable in the summer if windows and doors are left open.

A greenhouse is one of the areas of the garden that is vulnerable to wind, so whether your greenhouse is new or old, here are a few tips to help you prepare for the coming storm:

Check your greenhouse over. Is everything in place as it should be? Now is the time to tighten any loose nuts or screws, replace any missing glazing clips and generally check that everything is ship shape. If any roof vents have slid out of line, then these should be re-aligned so that they fit nicely.

Close all the vents and doors. If you have auto-vents, then you may wish to tie your vents shut with string or wire or better still disconnect the cylinder (as warm weather is forecast and sunny spells they will try to open)Do this just for the storm ( remember to reconnect them afterwards so that the auto-vents can open) If your door has a lock, lock it. If not, prop it shut with a brick or similar to stop the wind blowing it open. Letting the wind into the greenhouse can cause damage, even in medium strength winds, so our advice is shut everything this weekend.

If for any reason your greenhouse has a missing pane of glass, then it is a good idea to block the hole for the duration of the storm so that the wind can't get in the greenhouse - even something as simple as an old blanket or towel with clothes pegs can stop the wind getting into the greenhouse as a a temporary measure.

It is also vital that your greenhouse is anchored down to the floor or base. If your greenhouse has only a few anchoring points or you are worried about the soundness of the base itself then it may be a good idea to weigh the greenhouse down to provide anchorage by placing paving slabs or sandbags over one of the bottom flanges of the greenhouse cill.

If your greenhouse happens to be in a half built state, then it is also vital that it is weighed down by sandbags, bags of compost or slabs at the bottom if you haven't had chance to anchor it down yet.

Other items in your garden are also vulnerable: plastic furniture should be put away or weighed down and trampolines would also benefit from being weighed down at the bottom.