We make and install a butterfly greenhouse on our summer cottage with our own hands

In order to try the first greens and vegetables from their garden in early spring, summer residents use various designs of greenhouses and small greenhouses. Even a novice amateur gardener can make and install a butterfly greenhouse design with his own hands.

What is a butterfly greenhouse

In order to build a butterfly greenhouse with your own hands, you must first figure out what it is. This is an ordinary greenhouse, only its walls open upwards, and in the open state it looks like a butterfly. When the sides are down, the greenhouse resembles an ordinary cocoon.

Of course, the raised walls were not made to make the mini-greenhouse look like an insect.

Such a structure has its advantages.:

1. The lifting side walls are very convenient.
2. When the greenhouse is open, there is maximum air and light to it.
3. And even the smallest greenhouse is used in full force - there is no need to make paths for the passage or a separate entrance, from all sides the plants can be processed without penetrating into the structure itself.

You can buy such a greenhouse ready-made, you just have to collect it on your site. However, the craftsmen claim that it is possible to make such a building on your own without much difficulty. You only need desire and confidence in your abilities.

As a rule, a do-it-yourself polycarbonate butterfly greenhouse is made single-pitched or gable. A lean-to greenhouse is a structure where only one sidewall opens. This is convenient when the greenhouse is small, small. It is good to grow low flowers and seedlings in it, which are not afraid of frost.

A gable greenhouse is already a large structure. Here two sidewalls open, and each sidewall is fixed with stops. It is good to grow melons and nightshades in such a greenhouse.

Dimensions of the future greenhouse and drawings

When you make a butterfly greenhouse with your own hands, there is one important advantage - the structure can be made in the size that is needed. The dimensions are chosen those that are most suitable, the only limitation is the dimensions of the materials. So, for example, when such a mini-greenhouse is made from carbonate, the size of the butterfly greenhouse is tied to the size of the carbonate sheet.

It should also take into account how convenient it will be to process each plant planted in a greenhouse. That is, the build size should not create problems and inconveniences.

Experienced gardeners believe that a small greenhouse can be 2x4, this is the optimal size.

But, since the carbonate manufacturer produces sheets 6 and even 13 meters long, large greenhouses can be made of this size. The most important documents for the construction are drawings of a butterfly greenhouse. They need to be done first and you will have to do them yourself.

You must first calculate everything down to a centimeter on paper. Here the dimensions of the building itself, the dimensions of the materials, the methods of fastening, the size of the individual parts, the location, should be taken into account, on which foundation the greenhouse will be placed.

Drawings should show what the greenhouse will be made of - beams, half arcs or slopes.

Wooden greenhouse butterfly

As a rule, such a greenhouse turns out to be small, because the longest board is 3 meters (recall that the width of polycarbonate is 2 m). Hence the size.

But most often gardeners try to make a mini-greenhouse from materials that are at hand. Timber blocks of various sizes, remains from other buildings, material of unknown wood species.

Everyone decides for himself, however, a durable, new and reliable greenhouse is best made of new materials, specially purchased for this. So, for example, a pine block is most suitable for such a mini-greenhouse.

It should be borne in mind that thick boards will be too heavy for a light and small structure. And during the installation, there will certainly be difficulties.

Each master himself selects the material that is convenient for the structure. One has only to recall that for the structure of the frame, you can use not the most expensive and even timber, an uneven board will also go here.

Due to the fact that the bars are extremely difficult to bend, the greenhouses from the bar are obtained with a straight gable top. Here the sidewalls will be connected with ordinary furniture hinges.

The action plan is as follows:

1. Make a frame from a bar (2x1.5, h –1 meter).
2. Step back 4 cm from the edge and mount the bars at an angle of 45 degrees (they should connect at the top point at this angle).
3. A crossbar is installed between the centers at the top.

The whole structure is fastened with self-tapping screws.

Do-it-yourself greenhouse butterfly made of polypropylene pipes

A greenhouse made of PVC pipes is a very economical and convenient solution. The pipes are not expensive, they are easy to work with, and they serve for a very long time.

Before purchasing pipes, you need to decide what diameter the material needs to be taken:

1. On the one hand, a thick pipe is better, because then the whole structure will be more reliable.
2. But on the other hand, it will be extremely difficult to work with a pipe of this diameter.
3. Therefore, experienced craftsmen advise using pipes with a diameter of 25 mm.

After the pipes are purchased, you can proceed.

Here's how to make a polycarbonate butterfly greenhouse with your own hands:

1. The first step is to cut the pipes into pieces of the required size.
2. Attach these sections with a soldering iron to a rigid base.
3. Two large arcs are made (large sections of pipes are taken for them), they need to be mounted to the already prepared part.
4. In order for the "wings" of the butterfly to hold, a tube is mounted on top (3-4 cm in diameter).
5. Half arcs are created from pieces of plastic (they are simply bent).
6. Then you need to connect the pipes so that you get two identical sidewalls.
7. All this is attached to the frame (hinges will be needed here).

Attaching a film or polycarbonate to the structure itself is not an easy task. Therefore, for convenience, it is better to use special fasteners for plastic (these are arcs that fasten the arcs themselves and polycarbonate with self-tapping screws).

Greenhouse from a shaped pipe

You can also make a greenhouse from a profile. For this, pipes are selected that are not too thick, so as not to weight the entire structure. Small tubes are also not worth taking - they will not provide reliability, the greenhouse will not be stable. It is better if the profile is 20x40 mm.

A metal frame is made, and small garage hinges are welded onto the upper transverse profile pipe. Then, with the help of self-tapping screws, the polycarbonate is screwed to the frame.

In order to get a half arc, you need a special profile bending tool.

Without it, the profile will not bend. But you can make a greenhouse with a straight roof, as in a wooden greenhouse.

We make a butterfly greenhouse with our own hands in just one day - video