Premier Polytunnels Blog

A place you can relax and unwind, spend time with friends and family, or enjoy an afternoon tending your flower beds, a garden is an important extension of your home.

While updating your garden can be expensive, with our stylish and cost-effective tips you can enhance your outdoor space for less than you might think. Read on to find out how to improve your backyard on a budget!

How to Transform a Garden on a Budget

Before getting started it may be a good idea to consider function and decide on a budget. Thinking about how you use your garden and what you want from the space can help you make designing decisions throughout the process, while setting a spending limit could assist when purchasing plants and finishing touches.

When you’ve done this, here is how to transform a garden on a budget.

Polytunnels can be a great investment for gardeners, helping to extend the growing season. They can also allow you to be more self-sufficient by increasing your yield and allowing you to grow more exotic varieties.

If you are considering buying a polytunnel, a kit can be a great way to go and save you hundreds of pounds on installation. Additionally, building a polytunnel from scratch is probably easier than you think – we often say that building a polytunnel is a bit like putting together giant meccano. To build a standard polytunnel kit, you will need an additional pair of hands and some basic tools. Many customers build their tunnels over a weekend, but there are a number of factors that determine how long it takes –the size and specification of the polytunnel, digging conditions, weather, and DIY skills all factor into the time it takes to build a kit.

Follow the instructions set out in this guide to learn how to build a polytunnel DIY style.

If you’ve been growing your own fruits and vegetables and are looking for ways to boost your harvest, you may be considering investing in a polytunnel or greenhouse. Providing cover from harsh weather conditions and reducing pests, these can be ideal for extending the growing season, but which option should you choose?

In this guide, we have outlined the differences between polytunnels and greenhouses, as well as a variety of factors to think about when making your choice. Want to know which one is best for both your growing needs and your garden? Read on to find out!

Whether you’re new to growing your own fruit and veg and are making a start on being more self-sufficient, or looking for a way to improve your current fruit and veg growing practices, companion planting could be a great way to go.

A technique that involves creating a community of mutually beneficial plants, companion planting can improve pollination and provide an organic method of pest reduction. Also known as a polyculture, planting different species side-by-side can offer a range of other benefits, including improving soil structure, boosting nutrients and reducing disease.

However, selecting the wrong pairings can inhibit growth, so if you’re considering companion planting, it’s vital to make sure you group the right plants together. To help you, we’ve put together this companion planting guide for three of the UK’s most popular plants: tomatoes, strawberries and carrots.

With the arrival of autumn, you may think that your vegetable growing season is over. However, with a little preparation, the help of our yearly guide and a polytunnel, you can still sow and grow fresh produce during the colder months. This is because while many associate gardening with spring, autumn can provide a plentiful harvest while winter months are the perfect time for planning and sowing.

There are many varieties of vegetables that can be sown in autumn ready for a winter harvest, while other plants can be over-wintered – these are planted in autumn and remain dormant until the spring. So, if you’re yet to start sowing or growing your seasonal veg, then fear not, as you still have time to reap the best of the winter season.

Ready to get started? If you’re wondering what to grow in a polytunnel in September, October and beyond, we’ve compiled this guide to help you extend your growing season.

Nearly two years ago, in December 2016, we constructed two 27ft wide x 66ft long animal house polytunnels over the dog kennels at Bleakholt Animal Sanctuary, in Edenfield, near Ramsbottom. These polytunnels acted as temporary cover for the animals during the wet winter months.

With the construction of new kennels now underway, Premier Polytunnels was asked to relocate one of the tunnels at the sanctuary.

This summer, our construction team dismantled, moved, refurbished, rebuilt and re-covered the structure, now measuring 27ft wide x 42ft long. We are excited about the polytunnel’s new purpose as a dog training arena at the sanctuary.

Farmers have used sheep housing for many years for many reasons – lower feeding costs and nutritional requirements, higher survival rate for newborn lambs, and increased animal welfare are some of the top reasons.

A Sheep House Polytunnel is a popular, economical alternative to traditional livestock housing, particularly as planning permission is not usually required, when housing is needed quickly and on a budget, and for farmers on rented land.  

But working out what size of sheep house you need can be confusing.

With more people living in small city homes, nowadays, having your own garden or private outdoor area is often viewed as a luxury. However, when trying to get the most from your outdoor space, you may be unsure where to start – especially if you are limited for space and trying to design a layout that’s practical and looks good too.

Whether you want to enjoy the perfect family garden or create a little relaxing retreat, a few simple garden ideas and careful planning could improve your home by acting as an extension of your living space.

Are you looking for a way to encourage your students to spend more time outside? Would you like them to be more excited about nature and incorporate this into lessons? Starting a school gardening project could help you to achieve these goals, while also providing fun for your pupils.

As a busy teacher, the idea of finding the hours to create and look after a garden may seem difficult, but these tips and school garden ideas could make the process easier and provide an opportunity for your pupils to learn and develop outdoors.

The term ‘organic’ can be confusing. While many of us have seen organic produce in the supermarkets, do you know what it is that makes crops organic?

For food to be organic, the growing process must not use any synthetic chemicals, including pesticides or fertilisers, and production should be environmentally sustainable.

Feeling a little confused? You may well be! While this sounds complicated, organic gardening is probably easier than you think.