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For those who love growing plants a greenhouse brings an extra, very welcome addition to this pursuit. A greenhouse is in effect a microclimate within your garden, and a very kind microclimate at that. Because it keeps the wind out, traps heat from sunlight and creates something of a barrier against cold, a greenhouse can considerably extend the growing or flowering season for your plants. It can also bring them into flower or fruit earlier than would be the case outside in the open ground, as well as enabling you to grow a whole new range of plants inside its sheltering walls and roof that you couldn't grow before.
Even an unheated greenhouse can do these things, but if you heat the greenhouse during cold periods then you greatly extend the possibilities. In the past large greenhouses were heated by solid fuel stoves and had metal flue pipes sticking up at one end. Then, for domestic greenhouses, there came paraffin (kerosene) heaters, which can still be used today, giving that distinctive odour I remember well from my father's greenhouse when I was a child. Nowadays there are other heating options, including of course electricity. By keeping the frost out of a greenhouse, even with a minimum of heating, it is suprising how the range of plants that can be grown is dramatically increased. Plants that are considered sub-tropical will often survive quite low temperatures for brief periods of cold weather -- at least here in England -- provided the temperature stays a few degrees above freezing. Keeping the soil in the pots on the dry side in such weather can help too, if the plant can take it.
Even in an unheated greenhouse early spring bulbs and flowers will begin weeks earlier, and may in the case of plants such as primulas flower on and off throughout the winter. Vegetable seedlings can be raised a few weeks early in an unheated greenhouse, so producing an earlier crop once planted outside when the weather warms up enough. Annuals are also a good subject to raise seedlings of in your greenhouse, again planting them outside as the season progresses.
Okay, you're convinced that you need a greenhouse, but what about siting it? Perhaps you feel that your garden is too small? A garden would have to be very small indeed if it could not fit in one of the smaller 6'x6' or 6'x8' greenhouses freely available today. Although usually not as permanent or as good at holding temperatures, greenhouses skinned with plastic sheeting are a cheaper alternative worth considering.
As regards siting of your greenhouse in the garden, if you have a choice of possible positions, an open sunny spot sheltered from strong winds is best. Once I built an aluminium greenhouse in the garden of a cottage on the edge of moorland. I fould the lowest, most sheltered spot I could, in the lee of a drystone wall yet still open to sunshine. I even attached guy ropes to the apex of each gable end and weighed down the edges of the frame with large rocks, so conscious was I of the need to withstand strong winds. Despite these precautions my greenhouse lasted but two months before it was flattened by a gale, and broken glass showered over a wide area. So avoid windy spots at all costs. If you cannot, then consider a stronger, hardwood model, or an aerodynamically designed polytunnel or dome-shaped greenhouse. Also, always check your local planning regulations before building any kind of garden structure. A lean-to structure attached to the house should also be able to better withstand strong winds.
As I write it is now winter and in my greenhouse I am over-wintering tender plants that normally stand outside in their pots in warmer weather; and I have primulas, snowdrops and crocuses in full flower, unaffected by the rain outside. Soon I will be sowing seeds and rooting cuttings. If you love plants, why not get a greenhouse?
Lawre Dyer has written many articles, short stories and a book about living on moorland, 'A Cottage on the Moss'. Check it out at A Cottage on the Moss
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