A Fresh Start. In the Same Place.

“Begun is half done”, says the ancient proverb. 

And so it is - even here in the world of organic garden design.

Often, our garden designs start from scratch ; a raised bed layout we’ve drawn, built, and installed in a brand new garden area at a customer’s home. Sometimes, we simply build the cedar garden beds that are already drawn into a new landscape design illustration - building and fitting these small pieces into the larger puzzle, exactly to spec. These projects can often be something like ‘an easy lay-up shot” for us, as the raised bed size and edible garden location have already been selected, and the work site has already been neatly leveled for us, with the irrigation water supply clearly marked and ready for connection.

But, not infrequently we’re asked to replace existing raised garden beds that have begun to show their age. In many of these, the wood has become so soft and deteriorated that boards have come loose, spilling sad-looking piles of soil on the ground as a sort of S.O.S. for help ;  the ‘smoking gun’ evidence that instantly validates the customer’s verbal testimony of the garden’s poor condition. 

But no wood lasts for ever - especially when it’s in perpetual contact with wet soil. But most of these examples we’ve replaced are clearly well over ten years old - not a bad run for raised beds. And, thankfully, the raised beds have been carefully placed in the best possible site on the customer’s property. The irrigation system is still working. The decorative ornamentals planted around the garden years ago are now really hiring their stride. The pebble pathways still look like they did the day they were installed.

So, in cases like this, we’re all too happy to honor the excellent work of a capable predecessor,  and recreate the very same raised bed design that’s been so thoughtfully planned and delivered.

This process begins by carefully removing the old raised beds - often requiring heavy-duty trash bags to collect and transport the most badly decayed sections of the garden planters. 

With the garden site fully cleared of the old planters, and a final measurement with the customer to confirm the exact size of the new cedar garden beds, it’s off to our Charlotte workshop to begin building. 

Frequently, our customers ask that their replacement raised beds are built taller than their old planters. Many raised garden beds out there are only 11” tall - or even less - which is functional, but not very far from the ground. 

Our 19”-tall Kitchen Garden design is very popular because this seemingly slight increase in height actually makes a HUGE improvement in comfort while working in the garden.

This was the case with Jessica’s garden, and while we did build her new cedar garden beds to the exact scale as the old design, her new planters are substantially taller than her previous raised beds. Which she loved.

Jessica’s organic garden design includes an L-shaped raised bed that’s about 4’ wide, 16’ on the long side, and 11’ on the shorter side. The rectangle shaped raised bed measures about 4’x9’.

Fortunately, we’re almost always able to use any soil that’s leftover from a previous garden as a base in the bottom of our new cedar garden beds, as was the case here. 

But because of the substantial increase in the height of the new cedar garden beds, an additional three cubic yards of premium organic soil was needed to top up the new planters.

With new drip irrigation grids fitted and installed - just below the soil surface , where the water can soak directly into the root zone - it was time to pack up our gear, snap a quick photo, and hand Jessica the keys to her new organic garden.

Does she love her new garden? We sure do hope so.

And with a smile that would melt a glacier - and those chic red garden boots - It sure seems like it.

McCrary Elementary's 8'x12' Cedar-Framed Greenhouse

Organic gardening programs are thriving in primary school science education curriculums. And why not?  It’s a fun topic to study and even more fun to experience. These hands-on school garden programs help teachers to demonstrate organic garden essentials like seed germination, plant life cycles, effects of seasons, sunlight, temperature and air flow. All up close, and first hand, where the impact and lessons learned are far more meaningful.

The organic garden education program at Asheboro, NC’s Charles W. McCrary Elementary school had been well established, and was already very popular with both students and staff. The school’s garden learning area included many raised beds dedicated to growing edible plant varieties, and pollinator plantings as well.

With these essential pieces in place, what the school needed to expand their organic garden program to the next level was a greenhouse. And after extensive and careful search by school staff - months of scrutinizing greenhouse designs, costs, quality ratings, and reviews - the school’s administrative department contacted us to learn more about our cedar-framed greenhouse designs, which they had already reviewed online.

Through email correspondence and a phone call or two, we methodically addresses and explained every aspect of our cedar-framed greenhouse designs, including the timeline for assembly and installation, options for the greenhouses glazing, type of base and floor, and cost and design options for tiered cedar greenhouse shelving and a child-sized cedar workbench that would make their greenhouse a true garden learning environment.

 

The school’s garden program staff had already measured and selected an excellent site for their greenhouse; a sunny area right in the center of the school’s courtyard, and in the very midst of the sprawling series of edible raised garden beds. This well-chosen greenhouse site was already level, and also in an area protected on two sides by the school building. This site is an excellent example of a microclimate ; an area where nearby buildings, vegetation, fences,  and other features (natural or artificial) contribute to a modification in climate - perhaps warming it several degrees from surrounding area, for example. In this case, the close proximity to the school building shelters the greenhouse from high winds, and also provides passive heat from the brick wall on the right side of the greenhouse, just a few feet away.

The school staff requested an 8’x12’ gable greenhouse for their garden program, and asked that if be installed in their designated site. Timing was also a major factor for this project as they required that the greenhouse be completed during the summer, while school was not in session.

Like all of our gable greenhouses, we built the frame with rough sawn red cedar. This robust gable frame design features 2”x4” rafters spaced 24” apart, and anchored to a 2”x6” red cedar ridge beam. This greenhouse design yields an incredibly strong greenhouse frame that easily withstands high wind, snow, and ice loads - yet, while still allowing maximum sunlight into the structure. 

To ensure a smooth, efficient installation process at the work site, we alway cut and ‘dry fit’ every cedar greenhouse frame at our Charlotte workshop - ensuring that all of the pieces fits together perfectly, before transporting the partially completed frame sections over to the work site for assembly.

McCrary Elementary’s 8’x12’ cedar-framed greenhouse is glazed with 8mm twin-wall, clear, polycarbonate glazing, which is secured to the cedar greenhouse frame with a combination of 2” galvanized roof screws with neoprene washers,  and 1/2”x3” cedar trim. This high-performance greenhouse glazing has excellent light transmission, better insulation value, and is safer to transport, cut, install, clean, replace, and - perhaps most importantly in this example  - work underneath, than single plane glass glazing. 

8mm twin-wall polycarbonate greenhouse glazing is virtually shatterproof, and FAR less likely to be cracked or damaged by falling limbs, rocks, and other debris than glass glazing. And this is an especially important consideration when building a greenhouse for use by school children.

The first step in the installation process of a greenhouse  project like this one is to build, level, and square the cedar base, which must measure exactly 8’x12’ on the outer sides, in order for the frame to fit it correctly. Our greenhouse base design is made with two courses of 4”x4” rough sawn red cedar timbers, joined together with 6”-long structural steel screws.  

With the cedar greenhouse base in place and level, the next step is to place commercial landscape fabric inside, and fill in the floor with about 3” depth of a decorative stone variety, usually selected by the customer.  We recommend darker-colored pebbles as it’s easier to keep the greenhouse floor looking ‘cleaner’ than with lighter-colored pebble varieties. The darker-colored stone also absorbs more heat from the sun during the day, radiating it after sunset, and helping warm the greenhouse at night.

And why do we recommend decorative stone pebbles for a greenhouse floor instead of a concrete slab?  

-Water drains down through a pebble floor anywhere inside the structure ; there’s never a chance of a drain clogging up. 

-A decorative pebble floor is easier to install, costs less, and is more attractive than a concrete slab.

-There’s less chance of slipping and falling on a pebble floor than on a concrete slab ; greenhouses floors made with concrete frequently become slimy and slippery, especially if the slab isn’t poured correctly and the floor doesn’t drain properly.

 

McCrary Elementary School’s  8’x12’ gable greenhouse design includes a total of four automated roof vent windows - two on each side. These 2’x2’ greenhouse vent windows are designed much like a boat hatch - combining a hinged a window that fits tightly over a cedar baffle lip that extends above the surface of the glazing. This proven design helps keep rain water from dripping inside the opening, even if the greenhouse vent window is open.

The school staff liked the single, 36”-wide hinged entry door, and especially the slide bolt that can be secured with a removable padlock - helping to ensure that their cedar-framed greenhouse can be safely secured when not in use. 

And lastly, to bring this hands-on organic garden learning environment to life, we built tiered cedar shelving and a cedar work table with a 32”-tall main work surface  - lower than the standard 36”-tall height, and much easier for elementary school students to gather around and get growing. 

A World of Productive Jubilation

Wise business owners know that happy employees are productive employees. These prudent bosses understand that the best training, high-tech equipment, and clever marketing will fall flat without the right work environment. With a pleasant work space and good team morale, the phone rings. Sales are made. Profits are earned. The company grows. Bonuses are given.

 

Long aware of the positive impact that work environment can have on employee morale -  and his company’s bottom line -  Ink Floyd owner Dave Collier might well be considered a sort of guru in this regard ; an expert in pairing just the right balance of clear production goals and the conditions for their accomplishment, AND the fun work environment that keeps workers happy, and the Ink Floyd machine humming.

 

In fact, Ink Floyd’s artistic blend of fun and productivity in the workplace is so unique - so creative, that some have even called Dave Collier the Willy Wonka of screen printing.

Now that’s a bold statement. And, yet with an after hours recreation area that includes a tiki bar, cedar dart board cabinet, oversized dining table with benches, jacuzzi - even a bench press with weight set - it’s no dubious exaggeration.

 

The Ink Floyd team already seemed to have everything they could possibly need. 

But the after-work fire pit gatherings had grown in size and popularity - underscoring the need for seating more substantial than the whimsical collection of beach chairs, hay bales, 5-gallon buckets, and other improvised outdoor furniture.

Team Floyd needed proper outdoor seating for their fire pit area, and Dave quickly gave the green light to an outdoor sectional sofa design made with red cedar.

 

We found the plans for this excellent outdoor sofa design at realcedar.com  - a trade association website that promotes Western Red Cedar. This tree species grows and is harvested primarily in Oregon, Washington, and in British Columbia, CA. 

Here in Charlotte, though, and our preferred lumber for outdoor projects like this is Eastern Red Cedar ; another red cedar species that’s equally durable outdoors, and when purchased rough-sawn, costs much less than kiln dried, dimensional red cedar lumber from a retail store.

For outdoor projects that don’t require kiln-dried red cedar ( like this sectional sofa, for example, and the cedar garden beds, cedar-framed greenhouses, and cedar chicken coops we build ) rough-sawn Eastern Red Cedar is our first and only choice.

We built Ink Floyd’s outdoor sectional sofa with a combination of red cedar 2”x6”, 2”x4” and 1”x6” - carefully following the step-by-step building plans. 

Now, it’s worth noting here that most building plans - including the plans available at realcedar.com - are created using nominal lumber sizes. In other words, the plans assume that the 2”x4” you’re working with was purchased from a retail store, and actually measures 1.5” x 3.5”. 

This may seem like a trifling detail, but your project can quickly get sideways if the 2”x4” lumber you’re working with actually measures 2”x4”. So if you work with rough-sawn lumber, like we do, small but crucial adjustments must be carefully made along the way in order to create the project in the correct scale and proportion. 

Careless miscalculations, or worse - completely ignoring these seemingly small differences in lumber size - can result in a table that’s too low with benches that are too high. Chairs that are too deep and uncomfortable, etc.

Once the size adjustments were carefully calculated, the cedar sectional sofa quickly began to take shape. We used high-strength structural steel screws in a few places - just to make sure our sofa would stand up to any of Ink Floyd’s raucous after-work celebrations. 

 

And when the cedar sectional sofa was finally completed, we thoroughly sanded all of the edges, corners, the seat, backrest, armrests, etc. - removing any chance of a party foul delivered by an unwelcome wood splinter jabbing someone in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

With the sanding completed and the sawdust blown off, we next applied a heavy coat of 

water-based spar urethane wood sealer to help preserve the cedar sofa. The satin finish gives red cedar projects like this a more polished appearance and helps if weather and age more gracefully. It also keeps the wood looking cleaner over time - and easier to clean when needed.

A set of outdoor cushions for added comfort and a fun pop of color, and it was time for the Ink Floyd crew to put their new cedar sectional sofa to the test. 

Is it comfortable enough? Will it pass muster with Team Floyd?

it sure seems that way. 

And it doesn’t look too bad out there beside the tiki bar, either. 

But, just like Willy Wonka, Dave Collier somehow vanished the moment we turned to ask him if he thought the new cedar sectional sofa would help the company’s bottom line. 

So, we’ll just have to humbly imagine that Dave’s answer might have been , “Why, yes, my good man - Of course it will!”

And that our new cedar sectional sofa does complement Ink Floyd’s thoughtfully curated, and refreshingly original workplace.

Five Strong, Stylish, and HEAVY Orangery Boxes

A clear definition of terms seems the proper way to begin this particular piece. Only with this  essential knowledge, will the words that follow will surely have the intended meaning. 

So...What is an orangery box? Is it a box filled with oranges? An orange-colored box? A cryptic, well-guarded phrase, the meaning of which is known by a select few in the citrus industry?

None of the above. 

But, to arrive at the correct definition of an orangery box, let us first define an orangery ; 

It’s a place with a very carefully controlled climate, suitable for growing citrus trees year round - even in famously cold regions, like Northern Europe.

Similar to a greenhouse in many ways, an orangery is usually much larger, and the roof of an orangery is often only partially glazed. The temperature inside an orangery is also far more carefully maintained  than the average greenhouse ; heated as needed in cold months and cooled in hot months, to ensure that the citrus trees inside thrive inside, year round. 

 

From the 17th-19th centuries, orangeries were a sign of wealth and prestige, and to remove any doubt as to their owners’ wealth and prestige, orangeries were famous for their ornate and grandiose architectural style. They often included decorative wrought ironwork, magnificent stone and masonry facades, grottoes inside, and other areas for entertaining. Modern day orangeries are frequently designed in this same, ornate architectural style.

Now, you’ve probably already connected the dots and correctly surmised that orangery boxes are planters large enough to hold the citrus trees inside an orangery. 

Well done.

And, not surprisingly, these large, hardworking planter boxes have to be strong. Very, very strong, indeed. Robust and rugged enough to hold one cubic yard or more of frequently-watered soil, along with the citrus tree itself. On orangery box and its contents combined could very easily exceed 2000 pounds in total weight.

 

On top of this, the design of some orangery box planters demanded that they be sturdy enough to be moved  - outside during the warmer months, and back inside the orangery during winter.

And yet, we’ve only just begun. Strength is just one requirement of an orangery box design - and, some might even say it’s not even the most important one.

Think about it. Would a simple, plain-looking wooden planter box - however strong and sturdy it happened to be - suffice in such a large, elegantly-styled structure as an orangery? 

No way. 

It would surely stand out like a single-wide mobile home in Beverly Hills - badly diminishing the orangery owner’s prestige. Chancing upon a humdrum orangery box in a finely-styled orangery? That would be something like finding a cigarette butt in your bowl of crab bisque. 

No, thank you!!

Here, style is every bit as important as function. Perhaps even more. So orangery boxes frequently included intricate wood joinery, steel bands fitted around the exterior, decorative wood finials, and other aesthetically impressive features. Orangery boxes are also often lined with galvanized steel sheets to extend the lifespan of these stylish investments.  

 

So when we were asked to build five orangery boxes to be planted with decorative trees in a customer’s landscape, we paused, and thought, “Well...it is a really cool design. And the design does call for red cedar.” Further pondering our ability to deliver such a stylish product, we glanced down at our overalls and back to the sketch. Then, we stood up a little straighter, and proclaimed, “Yes! We can pause from our daily diet of red cedar garden beds, chicken coops, and cedar-framed greenhouses, and have just the tiniest taste of caviar. Yes! We’ll trade in our steel-toed boots for soft, supple, Italian leather loafers. We’ll set the overalls aside  - just for a little while -  and don tweed blazers and gleaming cuff links. Yes! We DO have what it takes to deliver both the strength AND style that’s demanded here.”

And so it was, that we set about building the orangery box frames with red cedar ; our first choice lumber for outdoor projects like this because of its well-deserved reputation for durability. This orangery box design featured cedar boards installed vertically on the frame, then wrapped with 1/8”-thick steel bands, secured with 1/2”-diameter galvanized carriage bolts. We lined all five orangery boxes with galvanized steel sheets, sealing the seams and any screws heads with premium-grade exterior silicone.

Now, because these particular orangery boxes were designed to grow only ornamental trees and annuals - not citrus or other edible varieties - we applied Woodlife CreoCoat to the inside and underside of each cedar planter. This powerful wood preservative is designed for untreated wood that’s used in below-ground applications like fence posts, mailbox posts, etc. It helps prevent rot and damage from termites and other wood boring insects, and this step -  combined with the sheet metal linings - will extend the life span of these five orangery boxes indefinitely. 

 

With the galvanized sheet metal linings and steel bands secured, and decorative finials in place, we next applied three coats of the requested exterior stain color, and scheduled the delivery date ;  just in time for a large holiday gathering at the family’s Myers Park home.

Now, we were certain that the five cedar planters were super strong. Uber strong. Beyond hardy and rugged. And VERY, very heavy ( trust us on this ).

But were they stylish enough??

We’d like to think so.

And with beaming smiles, and effusive thanks, it would seem that the new orangery box owners heartily agreed with us.

What's Clearer than Crystal-Clear?

When Gordon and Krista McClellan moved to Charlotte from Vermont, their very first task... well, their very first task right after unpacking all the furniture, housewares, and clothes... was to to recreate the organic garden and greenhouse that they had to leave behind in Vermont. 

The couple liked our Kitchen Garden raised bed design, especially the 19” height, which was taller than their previous raised beds. Three 4’x8’ Kitchen Garden raised beds were requested and promptly installed in a semi circle arrangement, on a sunny rise towards the back of their backyard. The three cedar garden beds were filled with a premium organic soil blend and ready for the flats of seedlings that the couple had already purchased, and were sitting outside on the deck, waiting to be planted. 

 

Once the three cedar raised beds were installed and filled with soil, we then turned our full attention to the couple’s new greenhouse. 

Now, the greenhouse that the McClellans had back in Vermont was actually a kit, which Gordon assembled himself. We know from experience how tricky assembling greenhouse kits can be, and Gordon’s description of his greenhouse kit experience ( which, thankfully, did eventually result in a satisfactory finished product ) seemed consistent with what we’ve found ; huge, heavy boxes delivered by motor freight, filled with hundreds of similar looking pieces. Bewildering labeling systems that sometimes seem to pair with the thick assembly instruction manual(s). Other times, the many parts and their labels seem to dance to a very different tune than the cryptic reams of assembly instructions.

By now, the McClellan’s had already reviewed many photos of examples of our cedar-framed greenhouse designs, and the pair loved our gable greenhouse design, which closely resembled the greenhouse they had at their previous home. And they were certain that they weren’t up for another greenhouse kit adventure like the one back in Vermont.

 

Gordon and Krista had already decided on 8’x10’ as the size of their new greenhouse, and had also selected a site for it, in the back, right corner of their backyard. They agreed that the base of 4”x4” cedar timbers, leveled into the sloping greenhouse site, and filled in with decorative pebbles would make an excellent, attractive base. And this greenhouse base design would also ensure that the appearance of the completed structure was would easily meet their neighborhood’s guidelines on the aesthetics of structures like this.

The McClellans also requested cedar potting tables with upper and lower shelving - placed together in an L-shaped arrangement that would fit neatly inside their greenhouse. “Consider it done”, we said.

And the couple even liked the look and feel of the 8mm twin-wall polycarbonate glazing that comes standard on for cedar-framed greenhouse designs. This high-performance, lightweight greenhouse glazing has excellent insulation value, is easy to cut, handle, and install, and is virtually shatterproof. Twin-wall polycarbonate greenhouse glazing costs less, insulates better, and is safer to transport, handle, install, and work under, than single-pane glass glazing. 

But the couple’s previous greenhouse had single pane, clear polycarbonate glazing. And this was, perhaps, the trait that they loved most about that greenhouse. If possible, they wanted the same look and feel of crystal-clear glazing on the new greenhouse. So they gently asked us if single-pane glazing was an option, instead of the twin-wall polycarbonate - even with the slight loss of insulation value.

“Of course it’s an option”, we replied. In fact, we’ll gladly install single-pane, clear polycarbonate glazing on any cedar-framed greenhouse we build. There’s a little more to it, though, and we explained the additional cost, and additional time needed to work with the more delicate, single-pane, clear polycarbonate material. Although it’s far, far less likely to shatter the way a similar-sized sheet of glass might, single-pane polycarbonate still requires much more care and special handling than its twin-wall polycarbonate cousin.

Pilot holes must be patiently drilled close to the edges of each sheet (where the single pane material is most vulnerable to cracking) , and mounting screws and cedar trim very, very gently installed. This process requires patience, skill ,finesse, more patience, additional time on site, and thus, adds a little cost to the project.

 

So, after the couple happily agreed to the small charge to cover the cost and longer installation process of the single pane, polycarbonate  glazing, we promptly ordered the material and soon installed the 1/4”-thick, single-pane, clear polycarbonate glazing onto the rough sawn red cedar greenhouse frame.

The words crystal-clear hardly seem adequate to describe the end result. And if it weren’t for the few, small reflected areas on the glazed roof that appear in the photos, it might even seem like the frame hasn’t yet been glazed.

We were glad to see how delighted Gordon and Krista were with their new cedar-framed greenhouse. 

We were delighted, too.

The striking beauty of the finished product, and our now delighted customers, made all the extra time and attention spent working with the heavy - and sometimes finicky - single-pane, polycarbonate glazing well worth it.