The Costco Yardistry Greenhouse After Two Winters

[@annamarie9858]

Nice Second Winter update! For those reading this - I bought one and used the same foundation described here, and it works very well! I sanded, stained, and sealed my wood prior to construction. That process took about two months, mainly because I could only do a few pieces of wood at a time due to space restrictions. It was worth putting the time in in my case because I modified my structure to house caterpillars/butterflies. I would strongly caution people looking to add this to their backyards to WATCH all the videos on this channel as well as the video provided by Yardistry. Make sure you have the space and a level surface! Between the foundation, the greenhouse, and modifications to resolve structural issues, prepare to spend around $2500 total in DIY mode. If you have to farm out construction of the base, add $1000 or more, depending on how much work is needed. My base was also built on a swale, and I needed a retaining wall. That wall also needed to be capped. And I needed clean gravel (no dust) for optimal drainage…$2700. In other words, commitment isn’t cheap! Is it worth it? Yes! Right now I have 51 black swallow butterflies overwintering in my structure. I released 15 monarchs and 38 black swallowtails last season. Leigh - I’m like you tonight and waiting to see what Mother Nature sends our way with winter weather. So far, so good - even with that horrible rain and wind. Nothing budged inside the greenhouse, and I still have my custom screens in. Love and hugs to NJ!

[@ourbackyardgarden]

It's snowing omg its like a snow globe all glittery! Thanks for adding your experience here. I hope it inspires other to grow food and consider butterflies! Love and hugs, thinking of you!

[@margaretl.9256]

Our Yardistry greenhouse has been up for about 7 months. It was easy to assemble. No warped parts. The automatic vent on the top works perfectly. The greenhouse came pre-stained. It is also very dry on the inside. All I did was the recommended caulking and no rainwater leaks in during a storm. It withstood a winter blizzard like a champ. 30 inches of snow piled on top of it for about a week because it was too heavy to push off. It also withstood -15° temps and 50 mph winds. No broken windows from the snow, frigid temps or wind. This was a brutal winter and it weathered perfectly. My next project is to water seal it this spring and to install a solar exhaust fan to help with heat buildup inside on sunny days. It’s a great little greenhouse. I’ve already used it this spring to pot up about 200 plants that will be going into my garden in a few weeks. I highly recommend this greenhouse.

[@ourbackyardgarden]

Thank you for watching and commenting! I agree it's a great potting shed. I think we were one of the first buyers of this before it hit the warehouse. It sounds like they worked the kinks out. I hope you get many years out of it!

[@a13xdunlop]

I am in Scotland, just put this up and I love it.

[@ourbackyardgarden]

@@a13xdunlop hello Scotland 👋 omg I dream of visiting 😍 ❤ it's so nice to hear from you! Thank you for watching and happy growing 😊

[@joannc147]

What a glowing endorsement! Thx!

[@claricekelly6395]

Just assembled mine all by myself, furniture clamps came in handy when you don’t have six hands . Just needed help with the panels . Door was warped but easy to train with a shim jammed into the bottom. Poured a slab for foundation and used tap cons to attach. Main thing was to level foundation and square four walls . And make sure the roof peak has an overhang of 1.5 inches . Thanks for the video, it’s super helpful because I can probably prevent some of those things from happening. We are here in Florida so we don’t expect it to last more than five years or one hurricane but I’ll do my best to make it last . I already love it

[@ourbackyardgarden]

Wow!!! That's amazing! Good for you that you could do that! Ours is holding up in wind that I will say. But our yard feels like Miami in August from early May to September. So the silicone isn't holding up, lots of leaking. It gets me through potting plants in spring and hardening off which is great. Wish it had windows! Happy growing I hope you get lots of use with it. Thanks for commenting 🙂

[@rachellek6239]

Thank you for this wonderful, honest and informative review. I literally came home dreamy from Costco tonight after seeing it for the first time. Your timely review has given me much to think about. I think right now I'll just admire from afar. Thank you again!

[@ourbackyardgarden]

You're welcome and thank you for watching. We have an entire Playlist on this item. It's very cute, and a nice place to use as a getaway. But being wood it comes with some issues. I'm hoping to get a few years out of it! Lots of people are enjoying theirs. But also, lots with issues. It's a coin toss.

[@ddc2343d]

I put mine up this fall, and excited to use it in the spring. It is actually comes stained. I built additional shelves inside and out and contacted the company. They sent me the code for the bear stain at home depot. They also recommended that you put a water seal on it after 3 three months and then once a year. I'm putting my first seal on it this spring when it warms up. Mine only leaks around the vent, but i attached some silicon strips on the vent and it stopped the leaking

[@ourbackyardgarden]

Thank you for watching and commenting 😊 we plan to add extra sealing this year. Extra shelves would be wonderful too. I crammed so many started plants in there last spring I was so happy my kitchen table and windows got a break from the clutter. Enjoy and good luck!

[@JGW5000]

What is the stain code?

[@joannc147]

Thank you, this is a great “report” on the greenhouse. I’m in the south, so I don’t think this wood will last more than 4 years. You gave GREAT tips esp on the water intrusion and the secure tie-downs.

[@ourbackyardgarden]

Thank you Joan. If it's in your budget, check out little cottage co they have real working windows and still less expensive than most delivered kits

[@johnd1536]

Thanks for the video. I’ve been wondering where your accent is from and I was correct. You sound just like my cousin who grew up in Morristown NJ. We lived in NY at the time. Thinking of getting this greenhouse. We live in ND and the wind is relentless!

[@ourbackyardgarden]

Hi there! Yes, we are closer to Philly than Morristown. As hard as I try the philly jersey accent is there! Thanks so much for watching. I can honestly say, wind hasnt been an issue. Between the rebar on the base, and tge decking screws and hurricane ties, it doesn't move. Just leaks rain like crazy.

[@Loriann4444]

I just bought this at Costco in Connecticut for 600 dollars. Thats for the reviews.

[@ourbackyardgarden]

Congratulations on that price! I saw it at ours for tge same price yesterday wow. Be sure to checkout our Playlist for foundation, base, assembly and more!

[@megansgardenandkitchen5420]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience with your Yardistry greenhouse! We also bought one last year and we started grow seedlings in the greenhouse.

[@ourbackyardgarden]

Thank you for watching! I'm so happy to hear you are growing in it, that is wonderful ❤

[@3dtrip870]

Thanks for this, it puts the entire process into perspective; had I not seen this I might have done a impulse buy, gonna wait on this!

[@ourbackyardgarden]

You're welcome! It went on sale for 699. Ugh. Compared to what's out there, it's not a bad starter structure for the price. If in your budget, check out little cottage co. Real working windows.

[@gardentours]

Thank you for sharing your experience 👍 Getting locked in the greenhouse is definitely not nice.

[@ourbackyardgarden]

Thank you for watching! It was a scary moment for sure!

[@PinkamingoHaven]

I can't believe you don't have any snow! I'm not sure what the official inch count is in Grand Rapids, MI but in my backyard, we have at least 12". The raised beds are buried! I'll be posting a pic on IG tmrw. Thanks for the greenhouse tour!

[@ourbackyardgarden]

It's snowing right now. We have about an inch of glittery snow globe falling. It's gorgeous!

[@vickiwestlund1837]

Thank you so much for this.. I’ve looked at your other videos.. my greenhouse is in the garage, still in boxes.. it’s been frigid here recently.. but will warm up a bit next week.. I’m hoping to get started soon! Relieved to hear the wind didn’t effect it, as we get some strong winds here..I’m going to look through your other videos further! Thank you again!

[@ourbackyardgarden]

Hi Vicki you must be so excited to get started! I sure hope it goes well. Keep me posted!

[@vickiwestlund1837]

@@ourbackyardgarden I sure will!

[@dustyflats3832]

Looks like it’s holding up! If it was here you would have 20” of snow on it😂 NJ gardener said they had a dry 27*F? NJ Dry? I said😂. She said rarely. Veggie Boys just showed 6” wet snow. Luke took vid just before they got snow. And last night I watched Reed Timmer drive around TN in the snow. ❄️ It was a doozy of a cold wind today 🥶 -8 last night hi of 8.6 today windchills ongoing down to -35. Next Monday slingshotting back to 36* and possible rain/snow. Good thing I have several gates to get into the garden that swing out to get to the GH. Dug carrots under all that snow and mulch and they were crispy and Good! Great birthday present. The other row I’m leaving to see if it can handle a week of below zero. Have to put the long johns on tomorrow and venture out to do errands and Have to get my monthly planner for garden journal to start recording weather events. So many are scurrying to start winter sow and I’m holding off to see what kind of boomerang weather we will be facing. It’s a crap shoot😅. Hooray! Our garden center has seeds in! They are carrying Territorial this year and hope they didn’t drop the others. Although I will check tomorrow if Menards got Burpee in as they usually have discount. Burpee had 20% off and free shipping on $75. I have most everything else so hope I can find those couple varieties I’m still after. Looked up cool weather flower starting someone mentioned and read the interview of the flower gardener who does this on Johnny Seeds web. It didn’t make much sense to me in Z5 as she is Z7. All I know is if I started any annuals last fall under a low tunnel inside a high tunnel-I would have had flowers and now frozen flowers. It’s now -5*, just dropped again and the GH with no heat sink is -1*F. I think it got up to 23* today though-WooHoo! Couldn’t sleep so I cleaned a 5 gal pail of carrots last night. Most were of good size and this year striving for perfection. Now that we have irrigation, the right varieties, just need to get better at thinning and sift out the obstructions. That’s all the news from the Midwest-keep warm!

[@ourbackyardgarden]

Fj shoveled out to 1am. And 45 more minutes again this morning. The plow trucks come along and plow the snow right back on the driveway apron. Every time they turn the corner it's like " you emeffer I just shoveled that! Been thinking of you and I don't know how you deal with the cold and snow. I hope you had a nice bday!

[@dustyflats3832]

@@ourbackyardgarden thanks. 😅 poor fj. That’s a given here. We learned to plow with the truck back further on that side to help prevent that. Well, it’s not easy; however the January thaw will arrive next week- 30-40+ degrees and rain/sleet/snow chances. Here we go again. It’s normal for 3rd wk of Jan to do this, but the changes are still on the extreme side. And that’s why I’m not jumping on the winter sow bandwagon so soon. We haven’t had super cold weather for a few years. I do remember one time it was below zero for a whole month and thought it would never go away. So we have entertainment like catching the 🐭 that came inside with open bag of potting soil. Did a happy dance at 1 a.m.💃💃🤣

[@rosskstar]

Makes me more resolute to go with a cattle-panel hoop house, thanks!

[@ourbackyardgarden]

Check out little cottage if it's in your budget. It's the one I really want.

[@rosskstar]

@@ourbackyardgarden Oh yea, i fell in love with several looking around ~ esp from bcgreenhouses *drool* In other news, the Son of God is back

[@stickerscat]

@@rosskstar I built a cattle panel greenhouse a few years ago, works great! I still would like one of these little houses though.

[@rosskstar]

@@stickerscat I've got my CP half-built but the heat and my back have put a pause on things.

[@Camwise]

I'm going on two years with mine. I see all the same weathering conditions you've mentioned. Good to see how yours is doing. Hahaha I've added many new shelves, power, and lighting to mine. I also plumbed a spigot in mine. Love this greenhouse but it is way too small already. Do you have any complications with pests getting in and surviving the winter? I've had aphids that I just struggle to handle. I love my automatic roof vent by the way :).

[@ourbackyardgarden]

Hi there! Wow that all sounds wonderful. I wanted to add all of that too. But I do find I've outgrown it. I do have lots of bugs inside. I think the worst being harlequin bugs....ugh....I had 2 praying mantis into December. Lots of spiders oh and stink bugs.

[@gail7998]

Great update. You covered everything. Oh, to grow your own lettuce in Jan! Your greenhouse looks like a working one. Glad you didn't doll it up. Keep it real! Cute coat by the way ❤

[@ourbackyardgarden]

Hi Gail yes it is definitely a working greenhouse. I already filled cell's with soil out there last week. Brassica germinated already on my kitchen windowsill. Are you settling in?

[@gail7998]

We ate getting there!​@@ourbackyardgarden

[@gail7998]

are 😊