Choose the right greenhouse - read the gardener's tips

Greenhouses are a dream for many, and with good reason. The benefits of greenhouses are numerous; for example, you can grow plants that require warmth, extend the growing season, store plants over the winter, and use the greenhouse as an extra room in the garden. But which greenhouse should you choose? Here are gardener Malou Augustin's best tips.

Choose a Greenhouse That Suits Your Needs

My best advice is to carefully consider what you want to use the greenhouse for before making a purchase. You might find, as I did, that you end up using the greenhouse for various purposes over time, even if your initial plan was solely to grow plants in it.

Choose a greenhouse that suits your needs

My first greenhouse, which I built myself using some old windows, wasn't particularly large—about 6 square meters—but it still held big dreams. In this greenhouse, I have grown everything from tomatoes, melons, cucumbers, and chili peppers to climbing grapevines, a large fig tree, and exotic plants like pomegranate and feijoa.

During some winters, with the help of a heater, the greenhouse served as a winter home for my Mediterranean plants. And for a couple of summers, the greenhouse became the family's sunroom, with a small seating area under the grapevines. The area outside the greenhouse also suddenly became a new favorite spot in the garden. That's the thing about greenhouses—they add so much to the garden and life within it!

When we moved and got a new garden, we naturally wanted a greenhouse there as well. We chose a greenhouse from Plantasjen's extensive range. In this article, I will tell you more about our greenhouse and give you some good tips on what to consider when choosing your own greenhouse.

Polycarbonate or glass?

If you know that you primarily want to grow plants in the greenhouse, a polycarbonate greenhouse is a good choice - it does not release heat as easily as glass. Polycarbonate insulates well and is therefore a good choice if you want to start the season early, use the greenhouse for winter storage with a heater, or extend the season into the fall. Polycarbonate also has a certain shading effect, which provides a more even temperature in the greenhouse. If you want to use the greenhouse as an extra room, I would choose a glass greenhouse - it is more pleasant to stay in. If you still want to extend the season or use the greenhouse for winter storage, you can insulate it with bubble wrap or use a winter tent inside the greenhouse to reduce heat loss. What you need to consider in a glass greenhouse is to create shade for the plants, so that the sun does not become too strong. Shade can be created with shade cloth or straw, for example.

How big greenhouse do you want?

Here I must agree with the tips you often receive regarding greenhouses; Choose a larger one rather than a smaller one. Greenhouses quickly become too small – partly because many eventually use the greenhouse for many different things, and partly because a larger greenhouse holds more air. With more air in the greenhouse, the temperature becomes more stable. It simply takes longer to heat up and cool down the air. And a more stable temperature is more comfortable for both you and the plants. If you don't have space for a large greenhouse, my tip is to choose a greenhouse that is quite tall instead. This way, you get more volume without taking up too much space in the garden. Higher walls also provide a larger area to cultivate. You can let the plants grow taller or cultivate in height with hanging baskets and shelves. A taller greenhouse also feels bigger than it actually is.

Where should the greenhouse be placed?

A greenhouse gets very hot when the sun is shining on it, so it is best to place the greenhouse in slightly shifting shade. If it is difficult to achieve, as it is for us, remember to ventilate the greenhouse when the sun is at its strongest - and to provide shade for the plants. Placing the greenhouse so that it gets morning sun is good, as the greenhouse will heat up early in the day and retain the heat longer.

Smart accessories for the greenhouse

Since we have had greenhouses before, we have learned what we need. Electricity and water supply are things we have greatly appreciated. Installed water is not necessary for manual watering, but it is invaluable to be able to connect to automatic irrigation with timers. It is perfect when going on vacation in the summer, but also to be able to relax and let the watering take care of itself when at home. In addition, water is saved by watering specifically where it is needed. It may be wise to facilitate a connection to both a water hose and automatic irrigation.

Electricity in the greenhouse is also very practical. With power, it is easy to connect both mood lighting for outdoor evenings and work lighting for darker times of the year. But it is also practical for the plants, for example to connect a heating mat for newly sown seeds or a frost guard for winter storage. An outlet outside the greenhouse is also handy, for lighting, compost shredder, or other purposes.

Which greenhouse have we chosen?

Our choice of greenhouse for the kitchen garden fell on Plantasjen's greenhouse Cassandra at 9.9 square meters, a traditional greenhouse that we have mounted on a 50 cm high pedestal. The greenhouse has an aluminum frame and 3 mm toughened glass. We wanted a greenhouse on a pedestal both because it gives a traditional character to the greenhouse and because we wanted high walls. We made the pedestal out of concrete blocks, which will store heat during the day - this way we also get heat-storing properties in the greenhouse, and it cools down more slowly in the evening. In this greenhouse, I will winter sow, plant out pre-cultivated plants that need hardening, and grow lots of goodies. There will be a flower bed on each side of the greenhouse and a narrower path in the middle. The fact that the Cassandra greenhouse has double doors was important to me. It makes it easy to go in and out of the greenhouse with bags of soil, pots, or a large harvest.

This is how we built our greenhouse.

The groundwork must be done first. We dug out a frame to the frost-free depth and filled it with gravel to approximately 10 cm below ground level. We compacted this with a compactor. Then we laid a geotextile fabric on top of the gravel, followed by concrete slabs. On top of this, we built up the frame with 9x19x59 cm clay blocks. We needed a total of 57 pieces, which we laid with mortar. We considered using thicker clay blocks to create a natural shelf inside the greenhouse, but chose the narrower ones to have more growing space at ground level instead. On the frame of clay blocks, we assembled the greenhouse according to the instructions provided. The most difficult part was getting the frame right before building the actual greenhouse, it's incredibly important to do proper groundwork in advance.

Inside the greenhouse, we placed the cultivation beds directly on the ground. To smother the weeds, we laid thick cardboard before filling up with Plantasjen's quality potting soil. In the middle, we made a path with weed control fabric at the bottom and wood chips on top. Now I look forward to this summer's harvest! But perhaps even more to planning for next year's cultivation, as I will have the greenhouse in place right from the start of the season! Find your favorite among our greenhouses