Get the more suitable greenhouse for your space and gardening needs
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Every serious gardener needs a greenhouse. They provide the perfect growing environment for seedlings and tender plants, and allow you to grow varieties that need more warmth and shelter than is generally available in our climate.
Not sure which greenhouse would be best for your garden? Here’s everything you need to know to make the best choice, starting with a quick list of the things you need to consider:
Choose a sunny, sheltered position for your greenhouse
Image: Waltons 6 x 3 Traditional Wooden Tall Wall Victorian Mini Greenhouse Potting Shed from Thompson & Morgan
Before you do anything else, it’s essential to work out where you’re going to site your greenhouse. This will determine how big it can be, and which shape will work best.
Choose a position that’s:
For more advice on location, visit our article on where to position your greenhouse.
You can grow heat-sensitive vegetables and plants like cucumbers in a greenhouse
Image: Cucumber 'Carmen' F1 Hybrid (Grafted) from Thompson & Morgan
No gardener ever complained about their greenhouse being too big. Choose the biggest greenhouse your site and budget will allow.
Height is an important factor. The higher the roof apex, the more light it will let in. Choose a greenhouse with an apex of at least 5 feet, ideally more.
A lean-to greenhouse butts up against an existing wall to save space
Image: Deluxe Hampton Mini Lean-to Greenhouse Racing Green from Thompson & Morgan
Greenhouses traditionally come in three shapes: freestanding apex greenhouses, lean-tos, and octagonal/hexagonal greenhouses.
Here’s how to work out which type is best for you:
Aluminium greenhouses come in a variety of colours, including black and green
Image: Garden Grow Traditional Greenhouse 6.2 X 6.2 X 6.6ft - Green from Thompson & Morgan
Aluminium and wooden frames have different properties and each has its own benefits:
Polycarbonate is 200 times stronger than glass and a better insulator too
Image: Garden Grow Traditional Greenhouse 6.2 X 4.3 X 6.6ft from Thompson & Morgan
There are many different types of glazing available for your greenhouse. Here are the benefits of each:
As well as choosing the type of glazing you want in your greenhouse, you also need to consider whether you want a fully or partially glazed structure:
All greenhouses need good ventilation to let excess heat escape
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All greenhouses need ventilation to allow fresh air to circulate and let excess heat escape so that plants don’t get too hot. Roof vents are vital and ideally should be on both sides of the roof. Some greenhouses also have side vents.
When it comes to ventilating your greenhouse, remember to open doors and vents on hot, sunny days and close them at night to keep your plants warm. You can invest in a good thermometer to keep an eye on the temperature or, better still, install an automatic vent opener that will open and close your vents for you.
A potting bench takes the backache out of greenhouse work
Image: Garden Grow Wooden Two-Tier Potting Bench from Thompson & Morgan
Once you’ve decided on a greenhouse you’ll need a few basic accessories to get growing.
We hope you’ve found the answers to all your greenhouse-buying questions. To sum up, here are our top tips:
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