Tips on Planning and Building a Home Garden Greenhouse
Many budding gardeners would love to have their own home garden greenhouse. Nonetheless, once you have decided to put one in your garden, you will be presented with various choices in regard to styles, designs, prices and sizes in addition to whether you should purchase a ready made kit or construct your own from the ground up. Consequently, it makes a lot of sense to forward plan and decide exactly what you are going to use the greenhouse for and ultimately, the type of plants you plan to grow.
Ready made greenhouses are readily available in numerous different styles, designs, sizes and prices as well as several materials like glass, plastic, polycarbonates, partial wood or aluminum. Constructing your own will entail addressing these and some additional matters.
When it comes to building a greenhouse, amongst the most important considerations is where to site the structure. Plants need plenty of sunlight to flourish, so you will need to pick out an area of your garden where sunlight is plentiful. Even if the preferred location is shaded, provided it gets adequate morning sunlight, it should be ideal.
The amount of sunshine per day is another crucial element in planning any greenhouse and is dependent on where in the world you live. More Northerly latitudes will get longer hours of summer sunshine, but a lot less in the winter. Artificial heating and lighting systems can compensate to a certain extent.
Aside from the hours of light, the amount of heat and dampness is heavily affected by climate. Even in northern latitudes, there are significant differences. Summers in many areas are rather dry, implying a greater need for greenhouse watering system whereas other locations, by contrast, are much more moist meaning that greenhouse water requirements will be less.
Next on your list of considerations is the type of foundation which can consist of no base at all or one made or built from wood, cement, brick or gravel. So as to reach a decision, you should take into account whether you intend putting in any form of floor heating and whether you plan to cover the floor with the likes of tile, carpeting or lino.
You need to evaluate all those relative to the proposed size and positioning of your planned greenhouse, constrained by the choices available on your property. For instance, there may be trees close to one side of the area while they are further away on the opposite side. The area that you have in mind maybe flat or it could be on an incline, in which case, it will require digging out to provide a level surface. Weather conditions in the location should also be considered.
Naturally, the average wind and rain over the whole of your property will stay constant but the exact amount at the projected site for your greenhouse may vary depending if there are any walls or trees that could block the wind or screen it from the rain.
How much rain falls on and around the greenhouse is significant because it will dictate the type of drainage system that will need to be installed. Wind speed and direction need to be considered because any through draft caused when the door is opened could cause major damage to the greenhouse itself. Therefore, the opening direction of both windows and doors combined with location are crucial aspects for the wellbeing and stability of the whole construction.
When constructing your own or installing a ready made greenhouse, there is no need to transform yourself into an architect although it will pay dividends to think like one. Without any forward planning, constructing a greenhouse can lead to wasted time and a lot of frustration, not to mention the additional cost. Getting it right from the beginning will give you a safe and comfy environment in which to plant, pot and grow whatever your heart desires.
