Beginning

Since we moved to Montana five years ago, we haven't had a garden. Most of the potted plants on our back patio have to be enclosed in cages to prevent the deer from eating them. For a larger planting space, either we would have to enclose an area with a tall fence, or get a greenhouse. We settled on the greenhouse, but for various reasons I won't bore you with (HOA) it was impractical to put next to our house.

My brother provided the solution. He wanted a greenhouse next to his Spruce Lodge vacation rental about a mile from our house, and graciously offered to let me pay to put one there.

But what kind of greenhouse? Chuck built our house five years ago, so we called him as asked if he could build one. He said when he put one on his own property, rather than build it himself he had one built and delivered by Frontier Rustic Designs of Norris, Montana. After we looked at Chuck's greenhouse and deciding it was something we liked, we took the 185-mile ride out to Norris on a Saturday. Their web site said they were open so we didn't call ahead...and there was no one there when we arrived. But they had plenty of finished greenhouses on their property awaiting delivery so we nosed around for a few hours. These weren't just plastic bubbles; they were beautiful rustic cedar buildings.

I saw a 16x9 that I really liked and that wasn't sold to anyone, but I wanted something larger. I originally ordered a 20x12, but they would have had to truck in the pieces and take two days to build it on site. Also it would have required a city building permit since it was more than 200 square feet. We switched to a 20x9, which they could build in Norris and deliver by truck. That 3-foot width reduction chopped the cost by a third, and at 180 square feet we didn't have to get a building permit.

We decided on a 24x18 gravel pad edged with 6-inch cedar timbers. That left two feet of gravel on the back and sides with seven feet in the front for chairs and outside planters. All we had to do was get our landscaper to build the pad and dig trenches for water and electric. I was hoping to have the pad done and take delivery in June, but by the time our landscaper got around to it, it was the end of July. I figured the growing season was shot.

The gravel pad and utilities, facing southwest.

Jesse Esh of Frontier Rustic Designs and his magic trailer arrived the morning of July 29. I was waiting next to the road to guide him into the property, and was so excited when he showed up that I put my phone on the back of my truck and forgot about it as I snapped pictures with a real camera. He passed by and I jumped in my truck to meet him at the pad, and the phone fell off the truck. I went back to find it later and it had gotten run over and ground screen-first into the gravel. Although it still powered on, the touchscreen was unusable and it was impossible to get my contacts off of it. I was doing "New phone, who dis?" for the next few weeks.

But I was excited to see the greenhouse. Jesse expertly maneuvered it into position with the hydraulic controls on his trailer, explained the features as his toddler did a few laps around it on his bike, and we were done.

Jesse arrives.

Backing in.

It's done.

You have to start somewhere.

Here is a drone video of the greenhouse taken the day it was installed. Spruce Lodge is the main house, and the City of Red Lodge is to the right. Hit the maximize button to see it full screen.

Here is a draft of the floor plan. A lot of the greenhouses we looked at had planter boxes all the way around, but that seemed cramped with a 9-foot width. Also, I wanted a bench as a work area and for potted plants, and an open area for larger potted plants. I put both of these on the north side.

Starting with one potted plant sitting alone in a planter, we started filling it up. I calculated I needed 50 bags of garden soil, which Home Depot delivered. To my surprise, it was exactly the right amount. This image is from Aug. 11 facing West. Three of the four planters have dirt, and I was holding back on the fourth (below the camera) to make sure we didn't have to drill holes in it for utilities. (We didn't.) A few things have been planted, and there are pots of stuff scattered around. By mid-August, the utilities were completed and all the dirt was in.