With fewer garden tasks to take up your time and with greenhouses relatively empty this time of year, now is the perfect opportunity to take care of your greenhouse
As the evenings draw in and temperatures drop many will be putting the garden to bed for the winter but that doesn’t mean an end to outdoors jobs.
As things quieten down over autumn it is a good time to start thinking about cleaning and reorganising your greenhouse. With fewer garden tasks to take up your time and with greenhouses relatively empty this time of year, now is the perfect time to clean your greenhouse. A thorough clean out will boost light levels for next year’s growing season, get rid of any trace of pests or diseases from this year’s and clear detritus from gutters. First off, pick a mild day, so any overwintering plants can be popped outside while you work. You can always take them into the house while you work to ensure they stay warm.
Once the greenhouse is empty your first task will be to clean the glass. Both the inside and the outside of the panes will need a clean with soapy water to remove any green slime that has collected over the year. Thoroughly wipe down each pane using a sponge, you might need a long handled sponge and brush or a stepladder to reach the high parts of the roof. Once you’ve cleaned the inside and outside of the panes of glass the greenhouse should be feeling lighter and brighter. This will help plants overwintering get as much light as possible as well as boosting light levels next growing season to ensure plants don’t get too leggy.
The next job is to check any gutters for leaves and debris. Clear out any rubbish to ensure water that flows along your gutting and into any water butts is free from smelly detritus. You also want to ensure any soapy water from your glass cleaning is not draining into your water butt, unless you plan to clean that out too.
The final part of the process is to empty out any water butts catching rainwater off the greenhouse roof. Over winter you won’t need to be doing much watering so now is the perfect time to make sure they are in working order for next spring. Empty out the old water and clean grime from the bottom before putting them back in place. Now it is time to put everything back into the greenhouse. Wipe down surfaces with a sponge and wash flower pots and seed trays with disinfectant and then rinse thoroughly before returning them to their place in the greenhouse ready for next year.
