Naomi Slade finds a creative solution to stop too much light and heat in the greenhouse
Peel-off paint is a therapeutic way to protect the greenhouse from too much light and heat
After a long and soggy winter, when the sun doesn’t touch my li le garden for several months, it seems a bit churlish to do anything other than embrace the warming rays now they’ve arrived. But with the greenhouse now bright and baking for a large proportion of the day, it’s time to deal with the opposite prospect: too much light and heat.
It’s a delicate balance; I don’t want too much shade as tomatoes and late, tender plants need sun to grow well, yet scorching will damage them.
And since it’s important that things look nice in a small space, this greenhouse must be an a ractive feature as well as a functional tool.
So I was excited to discover that www.thorndown.co.uk has a range of glass paints that you can paint on to a greenhouse now, in the pa ern of your choice, and then peel off at the end of the season. They’re made of recycled plastic resin and the colours can be mixed together, blended on the glass or diluted with water. I considered a stencil, but experimenting on the patio doors (with the artist’s paint brush that came to hand) convinced me that I was confident enough to paint my design of flowers and leaves free-hand. Out in the garden I applied my shading using a restrained pale e of opaque ‘Limestone’ and ‘Dulcote Stone’ with translucent highlights from the Arts and
Crafts colours, ‘Purple Phoenix’ and ‘White Witch’.
The trick is not to overload your brush and use long strokes to give a smooth, flowing effect. Then don’t pester it too much, until the paint has set. Any mistakes or wobbles (up to and including wiping it all off and starting again!) can be evened up while the paint is still soft, using a damp cloth and dry kitchen towel. You can add detail and build up the colour further by going back over the lines when they’re dry.
The pale colours will become more visible as the greenery grows and I even added a small flotilla of hot air balloons in homage to my hometown of Bristol! And, right now, I can highly recommend a couple of hours spent doing something ornamental and practical; injecting a li le bit of crafty zen into a strange new world.