RE: Inside Bon Vivant Nursery

Chris, that looks great!  PVC is a versatile substance, isn't it.  We've
used it as trellis for boysenberries in the past.  I think I like the paint
information.  One of these days I'll get around to painting ours.  It has
been up about 6-7 years.  I've found a narrow 1/2" diameter length of PVC
bends fairly easily, but a 3" diameter chunk is much less likely to bend.  

Your roof top garden area looks very good, Chris!  May it all pay off big
dividends for your new venture!

Blessings,
Bonnie (SW OH - zone 5) 

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-gardenchat@hort.net [o*@hort.net] On Behalf
Of Christopher P. Lindsey
Sent: Monday, June 12, 2006 4:02 PM
To: gardenchat@hort.net
Subject: [CHAT] Inside Bon Vivant Nursery

You've all probably read my nursery trials and tribulations in amusement,
boredom, or annoyance over the past few months.

I'm here to make sure that it continues.  :)

Since I didn't have enough room (or sun) in the back for my plants, I ended
up using the flat roof over my garage.  I installed three long storage
tables and built a framework for two of them out of PVC, covered them with
shadecloth, installed a misting system over the top, and then connected it
all to a manifold that's controlled by my computer.

It's pretty much done now, so I'm torturing you even further by putting some
photos online:

Here's the first framework covered with shadecloth:

   http://www.mallorn.com/~lindsey/nursery/rooftop/shadecloth1.jpg

The second one was the same height until today; I needed to add another foot
since the coneflowers were growing through it:

   http://www.mallorn.com/~lindsey/nursery/rooftop/shadecloth2.jpg

The third shelves don't have any shadecloth yet, but will probably get some:

   http://www.mallorn.com/~lindsey/nursery/rooftop/nocloth.jpg

The first two shelves are on a timer-based watering system, but the third
one is still watered by hand.  I left an opening for it in the manifold
though:

   http://www.mallorn.com/~lindsey/nursery/rooftop/manifold.jpg

I should add that the pipe isn't that bent.  It's partially because of the
lens that I was using.  :)  Another tip:  PVC doesn't lose it's integrity
when exposed to UV light, but it *can* become more susceptible to stress
fractures.  Painting it protects the plastic so that it can be exposed to
light.

Of course, there are some plants that just don't care about watering systems
at all:

   http://www.mallorn.com/~lindsey/nursery/rooftop/cactus.jpg

I love Opuntia.  I just dread the day that I have to package one up to ship.

Chris

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