Winter is all about being ready for the growing season that begins and so getting your greenhouse all clean and ready as early as possibe is a smart idea.
While there isn’t a specific time you should clean out your greenhouse, it is just important that when you are planning to grow some plants, it is all ready to go.
Experts at the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) say that winter is the “perfect option” to clean greenhouses “if you don’t overwinter any plants and the greenhouse is empty.”
Now that you know that it is time to get that greenhouse in order, it’s important to know how.
The RHS has shared just what is necessary to complete the job.
You’ll require eight things to clean your greenhouse: gardening and rubber gloves, a long-handled brush or rake, a bucket for collecting leaf litter and debris, buckets of warm water, a small stiff brush, a soft cloth or sponge and a watering can or hose.
The first step might seem obvious, but you’ll want to move plants and equipment outside – plants ideally to “a sheltered spot”, and any tender ones should be covered with a “biodegrable fleece” or moved indoors, if it is a cool day. This is done to protect the plant.
Once the greenhouse is completely empty, taking your small stiff brush, you’ll want to clean up all the debris, following up with your long-handled brush or rake to gather up leaf litter or any other waste.
Any green waste should be added to your home post or green waste recycling bin. Once that is all finished, it’s time for the real hard work.
Using any sort of flexible scrapper such as a plastic plant label, get rid of any trapped dirt and moss stuck between panes of glass and then grab your brush and continue to get rid of any larger parts of dirt from the edges and corners before washing the glazing.
For this next step, you’ll want to pop on your rubber gloves. It’s time to scoop out leaves, moss and other debris that has piled up in the gutters, making sure your checking for any blockages. With any remaining dirt, just use a hosepipe or watering can to get it into a bucket.
Only a few more steps now, it’s time to clean, clean, clean – the glazing, the floor and equipment. Using warm water and a soft cloth or sponge clean each pane of glass, inside and out before moving onto the floor, scrubbing it with warm water and a stiff brush.
Leaving your door and vents open will help your greenhouse dry quickly.
Once that is done, make sure you replace any RHS shares that would be a good opportunity to replace any missing or cracked panes and to oil vent joints and latches.
All that is left to do is give all your equipment a clean so once you move it back in, it doesn’t ruin all the hard work. Any propagation equipments and pots should be cleaned in warm soapy water.
Once you’ve emptied your water butt, scrub it using a stiff brush and warm soapy water, pouring it down the wastewater drainer before rinsing it with clean water and pouring that out also.
With all those steps completed you should have a glistening clean greenhouse ready for growing season
