Avid gardeners and backyard lovers unite!

A greenhouse can ultimately end up being a costly purchase, however, the benefits are substantial. They can successfully extend your growing season, as well as offer a secure and controlled environment for your crops or flowers.

Fortunately, you don’t have to spend an arm and a leg on one when we’ve found a way to do it yourself!

The Handy Mano has published a helpful guide to help you build one from scratch. An added bonus? It’s made mostly of recycled plastic bottles!

The tutorial is centered around eight simple steps, and for anyone with a weekend to spare, this seems like the perfect spring project.

The materials needed for the project are not very expensive, making this an affordable go-to for anyone that possesses a couple of handy skills.

You’ll mostly need a source of plastic bottles and a few cuts of wood to have this impressive project come together. The entire project requires about 240 feet of timber.

These are the materials you’ll need to construct a 6ft x 8ft greenhouse that’s also 8ft tall:

• 4″ x 4″ posts and 2″ x 2″ timber
• Screws, hinges for door, and fencing staples
• Postcrete
• Gravel, slabs, and mulch matting
• Garden canes
• Approximately 1500 plastic bottles

Here is the method for creating an incredible new DIY greenhouse:

1) Collect the Bottles

Firstly, you will need to collect around 1500 plastic 2-liter bottles for this project. Also of note is that 1.5-liter bottles will also work, they all just need to be uniform.

2) Wash and Cut the Bottles

Take some time to prepare the bottles to be the walls of your greenhouse. Wash them clean and remove any labels still stuck to them. Cut the bottom off of every bottle with a sharp pair of scissors and also remove and discard the tops.

3) Set the Posts

Next, you will create the four corners of the greenhouse. Set the four 4 x 4 posts into concrete. Spread mulch matting around the insides of the posts to prevent weeds from growing and taking over your operation later on.

4) Make the Frame

Use the pieces of 2 x 2 timber to create the frame for the greenhouse, as well as the roof and the door. You will screw together the corners of each frame.

5) Stack the Bottles on the Garden Canes

To create the walls of the greenhouse, layer the bottles on top of each other, one by one, threading them onto the garden canes. Lay the completed canes on top of your frames as they’re ready to be attached.

6) Attach the Bottles to the Frame

Secure your ‘bottle-beams’ to the frame at both ends using fencing staples. Fill each frame with as many layers of garden canes as possible.

7) Mount the Frames

Mount each completed frame against the four upright corner posts to bring the greenhouse structure to life.

8) Complete the Door and Roof

Lastly, you will want to give your greenhouse a roof and a door. Depending on your preference you can create a flat or a sloping roof. The tutorial chooses to do a sloping roof. You are free to construct both elements the same way you did the walls, threading the empty bottles on garden canes.

And voila! You can have a new house for your plants within one sunny afternoon.

While it may prove to be a little more intensive than these eight steps, this basic method will surely get you a working garden structure.

Check out the video below that illustrates the same DIY greenhouse method!

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Sources: Shareably, The Handy Mano