Holy cow. That sounds awesome. You do some really cool stuff, Donn. I'm so jealous of you folks that don't have to work a FT job and can hobby all day. I get good ideas -but just dont have the time or funds to actually act on them.

Some day...... somewhere.... somehow....

What a great project! I'm sure it will be nice to have everything organized and well-watered. And I'm so glad you mentioned the drip-irrigation stuff at Home Depot; I'd like to use that in my veggie garden, but the stuff I looked at online seemed a lot more expensive. I assume this stuff is in the garden department?

That sounds like a great project Donn. If you end up having to take it down I know someone who will pay you $400.00 to take it away :-)

I may need this set up too.We are now in serious water restrictions here in Dahlonega.I worked too darn hard on my gardens to let them die now.LOL So Donn give me the list of what I will need for a 20x 60 bed to start with..Please..I have a pot ghetto and 2 wscontainer ghettos still and starting on a 3rd.My neighbors stick their snobby noses up but sometimes in June they will be uuhhing and aahhing like last yr.
Neonposey.You've got to be kidding.I work twice as hard now than I ever worked as a full time nurse.Wish my doc would let me go back to my"easy,paying job".I would gladly become a week end gardener again
moonphase

Oh my. I remember Dahlonega! (Former Atlanta girl here...lots of weekends up your way. Yeah, I was one of THOSE!)

Don, I'm green. But, sweetie...are you trying too hard? Isn't this supposed to be easy?

O.K. Go ahead and build your Plant Metropolis. Show us all up. See if I care.

But be sure to post pictures, o.k.?

Moonphase - I'm not making light of the hard work. I KNOW its very, very hard work. I'm just saying I'd like to have more time in my garden and for cool projects, than I do.

StageRat..my local Home Despot parks the drip irrigation stuff in the plumbing department.

Clever merchandising, eh?

Believe it or not, I order Home Depot stuff online frequently. I just collect an order until it's over $100, and then place it. It's delivered, freight free, in just a couple of days. The local stores never have all the things I need, and with gasoline at nearly $3 a gallon, the web shopping pays off. Their local distribution center is in Hagerstown, MD, so UPS gets it here quickly.

Sounds interesting Donn, pictures, we want pictures. Just a small FYI...I have found a few sources of rabbit poop. Supposed to be picking up 2 batches tomorrow, let me see how much the amounts are and maybe I'll share with you.
Alberta

Donn - that sounds so cool. Just yesterday my husband and I went to the HomeDepot competitor Lowes and bought irrigation equipment to fashion our own system in both my shade house and outside holding tables. I will be anxious to see your set-up also when you get it up and running......and just tell the 'yard police' that you are doing your part to offset 'global warming' if anyone complaines :) .......

Lynne

Donn -

please tell me it's a grotto not a ghetto.

Can't wait for pics! Sounds like fun. I have the day off today, so it's hobby/house time.

I can certainly understand why you notified your lawyer Donn. Anyone who builds a "pot ghetto" would be under law enforcements scrutiny. LOL!
Seriously, I am jealous of the time you have for these wonderful projects too as I also work a full time but not so great paying job. I can hardly wait for pictures.

Bonny

My gardening hat's off to you Don for another creative project! I hope the 'tree rats' have withdrawal pains for not having access to your ws plants!!

Ok...first pic:

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As I said, it's just a pile of lumber in the carport right now. I started sawing timbers and laying out the first leg frame (there will be 5 of them).

Yesterday, I was pulled away from the project by the need to do some potting and planting.

Today, I hit the box stores for the rest of the materials, and the real work can begin (along with more planting, potting and lawn-mowing).

A little progress today:

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Nice progress! You work fast. Did you fasten the bases to your boardwalk, or is that just an end-cap for the 4x4s? Are you going to add any kind of a corner brace for the uprights, so they don't slump forward and dump all your pretty plants into the water?

It's nice to have two cordless drills for an outdoor project, isn't it? I remember when it was nice to just have 2 drills, but to be cord-free, and have a BRAKE, is wonderful.

Stage_rat..those are galvanized post anchors at the bottom of each post. They're fastened to the boardwalk with four 3 1/2" 16d galvy nails each. They're placed so the nails go through the surface boards and into the stringers. Then each post is held to the anchor by six 2 1/2" screws. This thing won't be going anywhere, unless the boardwalk and bulkhead go too.

I'll be installing diagonal supports along the back (canal-side) today, and if necessary will include the same for the ends.

I love having the two drills. The smaller one is a brand new impact driver, which I bought just for this project. I drove 110 2 1/2 and 3 1/2" screws yesterday, and many more to come. It's great to be able to drill the pilot holes with one tool, and drive the screws with the other. Both are 18v Ryobi's, and use the same batteries. I have Ryobi's 5 1/2" circular saw for the same system as well, along with 4 batteries and 2 chargers.

The pot ghetto is finally fully enclosed with chicken wire and hardware fabric. The 4 doors are finished and in place, and I've started constructing the interior shelving, which will be completely independent of the structure, and modular so I can change it around as needed.

After enduring hundreds of questions from curious neighbors, which I answered with things like "chicken coop" and "rabbit hutch" I started moving plants in yesterday.

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Wow! That's impressive. Can you build one for me, too?

Karen

Donn
That looks really good, and would really make a great bunny coop. Once I started investigating about bunnies, I found out that they can stay outside all year round, something I wasn't aware of. Not sure if I'm ready to get bunnies yet, but at least now I have some info to work with.
Alberta

Donn are you going to add another shelf or what? How many pots do you think you will be able to store in your ghetto?..I really like this and can't wait to see it all hooked up and going..Sure wish the round bed would hurry up and show itself..lol I am still waiting to see what magic you have done with it..
Alberta..I had a couple of rabbits that stayed in my yard for a couple of yrs.before they disappeared.I am getting a couple to cage just for their wonderful manure..lol I will gladly feed them for the benefits to add to my garden.At my old house,had up to 20 rabbits and a beautful garden.
moonphase

Moon..It'll be almost filled with shelves when I'm through. Some will be 1-3 level adjustable steel shelves with baked on epoxy. These are 300# capacity greenhouse shelving which is on order. Others I'll build myself. There's 192 cubic feet of space in there, and I intend to use every cubic inch of it.

Fantastic! I love the idea, both for plants and rabbits! Donn, would you mind posting a picture that shows how you did the doors? Also, when you put in the shelving, how would the plants on the bottom or lower shelves get enough light? and how would they get watered? How do you ensure drainage through the flooring? Do you use anything for shading the top?

What a cool, cool project. You're thinking up projects faster than I can get my DH to agree to make them for me, but I'm clipping these posts so he can't escape! Will this eliminate your cold frame with the hoops?

As always, thanks for sharing with us all.
Marianne

So many questions, Marianne!

I'll take them in order.

The doors are nothing but simple frames made with pressure treated 2x2 balusters which were on sale at Lowes. I added a 5th piece, which extends a few inches below the frame, and rests on the 2x4 support at the bottom corner of each opening. Here's a door in place:

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I couldn't figure out a way to attach the doors, without them getting in my way or the neighboring tree's way when I'm gettin in and out of the ghetto, so I made them to be fully removed. The tolerances are tight enough the doors fit snugly in their opinings, and I simply remove them and set them on top of the ghetto.

Here's shot of the back of a door:

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After gluing and screwing the corners of the frame, I reinforced each corner with a galvanized L-bracket, and then clad the whole thing with 1//2" hardware fabric. It makes a sturdy door.

Here's a closeup of the bottom corner with the extended leg:

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Shelving and light:

I'll have to play it by ear, and stage plants which need more sun on the higher and outside shelves, while shade lovers get lower interior spots. The location is beside the water, so I'll get all morning sun reflected off the water. Then there's about 2 hours of afternoon sun on one end of the ghetto. The Pear Tree shading it is coming down this year, so the ghetto will be in full all day sun. I'll use burlap for shading any sections which need it.

Watering:

The entire ghetto will be plumbed with drip irrigation equipment, ranging from individual emitters for some pots, to small sprinklers for sections, and even mist heads for other sections. The 1/2" main line tubing will run through eye-bolts in the roof rafters, and 1/4" feeder lines will run down into the ghetto from there. I'll hook up a garden hose at one point, and water the whole thing at once.

Drainage will be through the floor, which is 1/2" hardware fabric over the floor joists. I'll have to experiment a bit with highly placed plants draining onto lower plants. It shouldn't be a problem.

This will probably become my new cold frame next winter. I made the interior walls smooth and free of obstructions, so I can cover them with heavy clear plastic for winter, and I may even invest in polycarbonate greenhouse sheets for that purpose in the future. I'll probably continue to use the old cold frame, but it will no longer be the primary WS location. I could dig it out and fill it with good garden soil, and make a semi-raised and covered bed out of it.

Very impressive Donn - when I showed this to my hubby his comment was "gee I guess the table I built for you this spring with hardware cloth will need some modifications" - lol. We had already talked about hooking up some sort of sprinkler system but I am waiting to see your set-up first. Keep posting pictures of your progress - you are my inspiration for WS projects and how to make neat set-ups.....

Lynne

I love it Donn, and it makes a beautiful privacy screen too.
Great work and congrats on a very creative solution, hopefully that will keep your plants out of harms way when the next Nor'easter comes your way.

Mary, (who woke up one morning to 2 inches of Barnegat Bay in her living room, many years ago, and decided to move to the mountains.)

I was just reminded I never posted a photo of the finished product, with all it's shelving installed.

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It's much more full now than in the photo, and is working out very well. The tree rats can't get in, and the birds love to sit on it. I'm still researching a winter cover, so I can use it for WS and protection for tenderoonies.

It's gorgeous, Donn! I don't think you're allowed to call that a ghetto, it's more a luxury high-rise. You can name it Bay View Tower or some other high-rent sounding name.

Very impressive Donn - you did a fantastic job **clapping hands** - your grasses look soooooo good. Mine took a beating with our severe drought and heat - there is always next year tho.....

Lynne

It looks great Donn.

T

Nice!

You sure would be a handy guy to have around.

Karen

Looks like a great setup, Donn. Has your watering system worked as well as you hoped?
Bobbie

Good job on building something to house your pots in waiting. I was wondering what was the reason you had felt you needed this much protection? Then I went out this morning and found 4 pots of new iris rhizomes that some critter had dug up chewed up and ran off with 2 of them and left the other 2 laying on the ground all chewed up. Then I looked over and saw 4 newly transplanted winter sown hostas that I was so happy with the fact they had germinated, all knocked over and uprooted.

I am assuming it was the squirrels. I wish I understood what makes the little buggers so interested in some of my pots. They can go weeks and weeks without bothering them. I am pretty sure I read somewhere that they will investigate any newly disturbed soil ..in the ground or in a pot. These pots they just bothered, were just potted up in the past week and were sitting among other pots that they didn't bother at all. The pots I brought home from the nursery, were never bothered since bringing them home. The leftover wintersown containers have not been bothered.

I was able to salvage the hosta seedlings. Luckily it rained over night. I did put the chewed up rhizomes back in their pots, but I am not sure how that will go. Naturally they took off with the largest and my favorite rhizome. *sigh*

Good idea on the screened in holding area, Donn! :-)