by Leo Clarke

Last updated at 12:59, Wednesday, 01 April 2009

Leo Clarke

I DIDN’T know whether to laugh or cry when I saw the unmitigated disaster of what was once my immaculate greenhouse.

High winds, gale force I would say, on Thursday sent my once proud building, which I had only created days before, into nothing more then a lump of flapping plastic.

Upset was an understatement, and what made matters worse was the fact that I had arrived home late in the evening after spending a smashing day with my grandchildren.

The strong winds of last week had left me conscious of the fact my greenhouse could be under threat, but I thought I had done enough to keep it secure. How wrong could I be?

Anyway, by the time I saw the disaster zone it was too late other than tether it down the best way I could, doing the job by torchlight supplemented by my son.

Things would always look better in the morning I thought.

However, the strong winds continued the following day and all I was left to do was survey the wreckage.

Seedlings which I had carefully nurtured over the previous weeks were strewn all over the back of the garden.

Carefully grown strawberries, which I had bought and then transplanted, were nowhere to be seen after initially scouring around the immediate vicinity.

Anyway, Saturday arrived, the winds had died down and I made a more constructed sortie in the garden.

Sifting through the debris I managed to find most of the strawberry plants and a couple of seedling pots and when I sliced through string which I had used to stop the greenhouse from floating into the Irish Sea, my initial fears were somewhat allayed.

It wasn’t as bad as I thought.

After wielding the greenhouse away from its site I refused to let nature beat me.

But what could I do to make it more secure a second time around?

Not really having a clue of what to do I prayed to the garden gods for direction.

First thing to do I thought was to measure the framework, and once that was established mark out an area to resite the greenhouse.

Armed with a spade and prayer I dug what I hope will be a deep enough foundation.

Once satisfied I placed the greenhouse in its new home hammered in some metal pegs and refilled the hole with the earth flattening it down before added some small stones and finally weighing down the frame with huge chunks of concrete and a heavy growbag.

Feeling more confident after my efforts, I returned the shelves and began the process of planting fresh seeds.

All I hope now is that the greenhouse stays up, the seedlings blossom and that windy night last week will be nothing more than a memory.

First published at 11:50, Wednesday, 01 April 2009
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk