I am from Northern California and I have a Harbor Freight 10'x12' greenhouse. You are right to worry about wind. We very impulsively put our greenhouse up spring of 09. I then started looking around gardenweb and found many stories of them blowing out panels or blowing down. Ours in anchored to 4"x4"s on the ground and all the panels are screwed down. Lose one panel and the thing will implode. We used many of the retrofit ideas gardenweb suggested. I put in a lose brick floor. Then I decided I needed a path and on and on. It has brick just laid on the dirt all the way around for storage in the back and potted plants house side.
No way would I use concrete for a floor. Concrete is forever. I like our DG paths but don't know about a gh floor. I drag pots around in there. I started buying resin and fiberclay pots because there is so much in and out of plants. I have three 22" pots of petunias in there now and my fuchsias. I plant a pot and put it in the gh for a while to beef up. Lots of dragging required.
As for shading it, I bought a shade tarp from Harbor Freight and I tie wrap on. It is on year round. In summer it is on the front side and winter the back. The best thing about it is that it covers the roof vents on one side. I can open and close them still and they are very secure under the tarp so can't be ripped off in a wind. Love that shade tarp! I can't believe how few pictures I have taken of the gh.
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Thanks, Peggy and great photos! Your yard is very lovely, and the greenhouse looks very nice tucked back in the corner of your yard. And your fuschias are gorgeous sitting by the pond. I'll check out Harbor Freight to see what they have. In reading up on Sunglo's website, they recommend a vapor barrier if your greenhouse in placed in a damp area. Where we'll be putting our greenhouse is the lowest part of our yard, where the rest of the yard drains to, so I may have to lay down some 6 mil vinyl first, then sand and DG (which they recomend as a flooring). I may also lay a brick or paver path down the middle, too. Have to see once I get it up. So, for sure I'll put up a wind block on the east side if I can squeeze in a row of podocarpus there. Otherwise, the location is exactly perfect based on what Sunglo recommends - afternoon shade from tall trees.

Patty S.

I also have the Harbor Freight greenhouse. They go on sale fairly regularly. Ours is anchored to 2 x 4's set atop concrete blocks (which also adds a bit to the height, gravel floor. Shelving built from wire shelving and attached to more wood framing which also stabilizes the structure. Structure also reinforced in various ways thought needed by the 'builder' in our family...
Partially shaded by tree and other plantings and also use shadecloth....

wcgypsy, thanks for the tips. Can you post some photos of your foundation and your greenhouse? I was concerned about putting a wood frame on the ground, even pressure treated lumber, since I don't want to attract termites. Your solution to put the wooden frame on concrete blocks sounds great. And this greenhouse looks very tall to start with. And, the wire shelving - did that come with the greenhouse or did you use some other wire shelving and fit it to your greenhouse?

Patty S.

If cinder blocks don't block drainage from your yard, it would raise the floor and not be the low spot any more, a good thing. Our Harbor Freight gh did not come with good directions but found everything we needed to know on garden web. We are very happy with it. We also used pressure treated lumber, not for the organic gardener. We are getting lots of wind with the spring storms. I am very glad we went to the trouble of anchoring the gh so well.
I have shelving that could be used in a stadium. I can walk up it and sit down with all my friends. DH is a welder and IT guy; cars, computers and iron. I would recommend you slowly figure out your gh furnishing. My uses for the gh keep changing and sometimes my furnishings are in the way. The stadium seating comes all a part, the idea was stolen from Capital nursery. But, I have to empty the gh to get it out or rearrange it. It looks really good though and you never know when a large number of sports people might drop by to sit down.

Would love to post pics for you, but posting pics on this site seems to be such a nuisance that I've not gotten it right....sigh. The wire shelving is standard from Home Depot type stuff. The greenhouse is not as tall as you might think, the extra height is better for me and I'm not that tall. I'm 5' 6".

Good Grief, Peggy! What size is your greenhouse? I wouldn't be able to find room for *me* to sit, let alone company.....

To post a picture:
1 Click on the picture in my post.
2 Select the tab at the top, 'Down Load Media'.
3 Click the 'browse button' and find the file on your computer.
4 'Upload Now'
5 Copy and paste the last HTML Thumbnail into your post.
Finding the file seems to be my problem. I can't find a picture of my well built plant stadium seats. Three shelves 12' long 5' high. I am trying to be better about labeling and deleting. Too many pictures poorly labeled.

lol...I've got too many pics UN-labeled. Thanks for the pic posting info...I'll try that. I wasn't happy with the photobucket method...

Opps, 4 shelves, it makes the broom look small. The lumber is 2"x6" pressure treated. The second shelf can be taken off and put down with the bottom shelf to make a wide shelf with more head room for large pots. It can hold pots I cannot lift. If I had some extra car engines I could store them here. It sits on the shop patio before it was installed into the gh.
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I built my own from old windows... I would say make sure that the ventilation windows are high (ridge vent is ideal) and the total window and door area is at least half the floor square footage. You'll also need a shade cloth over the roof starting in mid-spring (I leave mine on all year). I don't have much active ventilation (just 1 small fan on a thermostat) and I can keep mine less than 10-15 degrees above the outside temps on a sunny day. It helps that I located the GH next to an area that gets shade so cooler air can reach the vents.

wcgypsy, to post photos, I use Photobucket. I upload my photos there. Then, I just click on the html coding, and it automatically copies that html code to the Windows clipboard. Then, in your message response, just right click and select "Paste", and all that coding just gets pasted right into your message. And your photo will appear. You can continue copying and pasting each photo's html code right into your message (I press Enter between each photo, so the coding has a line space between each html photo code). Really easy, actually!

And thanks for all the suggestions. Trying to find the least labor-intensive project possible, since my huggy will not be overly pleased with a big construction project :-) So, I'm trying to find easy but sturdy alternatives.

If I can swing the Sunglo, I may go that way. I am afraid the Harbor Freight greenhouse may be a bit too flimsy for our Santa Anas that can come charging down the canyons. If I can't afford the Sunglo, I'll probably go with the Snap & Grow. I think by the time I get all the extra doo dads for the Snap & Grow, it won't be all that much less expensive than the Sunglo, which is a very high quality greenhouse, up there with a Riga.

Patty S.

You are wise to worry about wind. Harbor Freight gh are best left to the very handy. When retrofitted they stand up to some pretty ugly weather.
The point I was attempting to make before my sense of humor got in the way was to be slow to furnish it. What you think you will need in your gh now will be different when you have had some experience with it in your climate.

Thanks Peggy for all the good information. My roof vents are automatic opening with a 15 lb weight limit, so I never thought they would be able to open against the weight of the shade cloth, are yours self opening? Al

Thanks Peggy. So, definitely leaning towards a Sunglo or Snap & Grow, then. Al, what greenhouse do you have??

Patty S.

I using Peggie power to open greenhouse vents. The vents push up at the center point and lock. We had planned to capture the corners some how to prevent the wind from catching them. I needed the shade cloth and that solved the problem for 2 of the 4 vents since the shade cloth is on one side or the other year round. The edge of the shade tarp is secure but the mesh in the center will flex when the vents are pushed up into it. I don't use the gh all year. In nice weather and hot summer it all goes into the yard. That may change this year. But, it all changes every year.

Thanks Peggy I will buy the shade cloth from Harbor Freight and find out if the vents will open. If not I can power vent with an exhaust fan. At lest with the shade it should be bearable for ME in the greenhouse. I have an old redwood and glass 9x12 greenhouse given to me by a fellow gardener who got too old and retreated to assisted living. The redwood in the roof was weathered away and had to be replaced, everything else was usable. Al