Finally finished! (Kind of) Fancy a nosy at my polytunnel? :)

[gardening_gal]

Now before I post the pics, I do need to acknowledge that I've gone wrong on a few bits but it's a learning curve for me and I'll know the next time when the cover needs replacing. I'm also very very tired and feeling my age after trying to lug 10ft lengths of 4" x 4" around so any mistakes I've made, I can live with for now.

Tunnel is 6m x 3m. It's on a rough and uneven hardstanding surface that is cracked in parts with weeds showing through (car park area). After getting rid of as much growth as possible I made a base with the timber and covered it with 2 layers of thick Geotextile membrane in the hope that I wont have anything growing in the tunnel that wasn't actually invited!

The tunnel was built on top of the wood frame and fastened to it with pipe clips then the cover was fixed with battens all the way round. I couldn't fix the battens the way they 'should' have been fixed (with the top batten under the cover) simply because there just wasn't enough excess in the plastic to pull the cover over the batten all the way round. So I had to improvise, time will tell if it will work or not. Or you lot will, one or the other, lol.

The black plastic beds I have had for years, many were given to me as presents and a few I got lucky with when a company was closing down and sold them off really cheaply.

There is a double height section at the end for carrots or parsnips or whatever other long thing I decide to grow there.

Mutt is hoping for carrots, he loves them. He's made his presence known already. Gratuitous shot of mutt included.

I bought some crop bars online (only 3, not one for every hoop) and added them to this tunnel but they are quite low down. Not sure if they will end up being a help or a hindrance tbh but they do help improve the strength of the tunnel so a bit of head ducking here or there will be a small price to pay I think. They are only maybe 4 or 5 inches too low so not the end of the world.

I still need to line the beds with the leftover Geotextile stuff and I'll need to order some bulk buy topsoil as it would be too costly using individual bags to fill the beds (each one takes around 110l roughly). I also have beds set up outside the tunnel that need filled too.

I'm also considering whether to put in a highish shelf along the left hand side for smaller pots but I'll decide that for sure once I've finalised where the plants are going.

I will need to get something to put on the ground so I can kneel down more easily. The rough hardstanding underneath is very sore on the knees and the kneeler mats I've had just seem to break easily. I would imagine the Geotextile stuff would also start tearing if it was walked on constantly. Will need to look for ideas on that.

[gardening_gal]

[WendyC]

Looks very plush! Is the timber base attached to the ground? Would hate for the whole thing to blow away! Now the fun bit to get sowing.

[gardening_gal]

Not fixed down as of yet. It's very solid right now but if it does start to look like the wind will be able to move it then I can fix anchors to the wood and into the ground.

Can't wait to see green things actually growing in it.

[chris]

Looks great.

As Wendy says though... you really do need to anchor it down. The slightest gust that gets in it will move it (seriously..).

I'd bolt it to the floor

[Fishgirl]

Wow lm impressed.

[Tripmeup]

Looks great! Is the base heavy i.e in that I understand you have the tunnel attached to the base with clips...Hopefully the base is quite heavy, so that will prevent it ever taking off!!

Where did you buy it?

[gardening_gal]

The base is made of huge timber fence posts. There's 60ft of 4" thick wood there. It really is quite weighty, I'd be surprised if the wind could lift it tbh but that could be famous last words, lol. I was also thinking of running webbing straps from the frame under the beds. Once they are filled they are really heavy and those would weigh the thing down too.

I will likely put anchors in too, just to be sure though.

I was given the tunnel by someone else.

[bearded bloke]

I'm not even slightly envious (turns off lie mode) Well done & he's a hansom looking mutt you got to help

[Bill HH]

The wind on that expanse of plastic will roll it over without a secong thought, you need heavy duty anchors, such as posts at each corner concreted in and bolted to your exsisting timbers. Or a lot of smaller posts knocked into the ground all round. If its a concrete base some large brackets would do.
Apart from that it looks brilliant, I envy you in fact. I would go for an area like a slatted table to put pots on, and you can store stuff underneath. It means less bending for one thing.

[Dorothy rouse]

Looks very 'pristine' at the moment, your beds are going to take some filling, but at least when that's done, it won't blow away. In a month it so, will look very different when everything us growing.

[Tomatoking]

WOW very impressed, was it a kit and what sort of cost was it, I am sure many members would be interested.

I did make my own which cost about £500 for 5m x 5m and the polythene has lasted over 4 seasons so far and still looking good. I would now like one like yours but just covered in net for wind protection.

Looking forward to seeing more pictures later with your crops in.

[rhonsal]

I have polytunnel envy - i'll never look at my little 6x8 greenhouse in the same way again!!

[gardening_gal]

Thanks everyone for the kind comments, I'm not used to doing or having things that other people might envy, it's usually me that's sat there with a green face and drooling, lol.

@Tomatoking, no it wasn't a kit, I was making it up as I went along. It was just a bog standard ebay type polytunnel that I needed to add on to, to make it more secure for the kind of area it was going on. It's just ordinary treated fence posts that it is sitting on, easily got from timber merchants. I bought the crop bars from First Polytunnels and fixings for the tunnel from Screwfix.

@Bill, funny you should mention a table, I'm just back in after messing about with leftover wood. I'm doing a wood frame that (hopefully!) those long black plastic growbag trays will fit on. That way I can have the best of both worlds, a top for pots to sit on capillary matting, or an easily cleaned top to use as extra space to pot things up if needed, or a place to stick an extra couple of growbags, or a frame that taller stuff could grow through if needed once the top is lifted off. If it works then it will save me buying more timber, (I already have the trays) if not then all I need to do is buy some timber for top slats.

I take on board your comments about the wind and will see about fixings soon.

I'm dying to get things going, black plastic isn't really the nicest or most relaxing view, I'm looking forward to seeing green everywhere.

Btw bearded bloke, yes he's a handsome thing but he's far too full of his own self importance, he thinks everything that ever goes on, he really has to be part of. (He's a good companion really.)

[Bigmallly]

It looks brilliant GG, I can only echo everyone else's concern and put some weight in those troughs. Growbags, sand or even buckets of water to help keep it on the ground until you get round to anchoring it down. They are not called kites for nothing..............