Doing your planning upfront is a crucial task before taking on a home greenhouse project. While the planning is important, building your own greenhouse doesn’t need to be complex or overly expensive. What type of greenhouse you should build should be determined by the overall space needed, available build sites, aesthetic considerations, and your budget. No matter what your budget, however, you have to ensure that it’s a properly designed environment for the plants within. Check out this advice from South West Greenhouses, experts in the field:
The right amount of Sun
While it seems obvious that your greenhouse should be built in an area with plenty of sunlight, there are some often overlooked details. Start with the the southern, or the south east side of either your house, an existing outbuilding, or an outcropping of trees.
For most areas of the country, a location with full-day sunlight is most desirable, but you may get with by with just morning sunlight, coming from the east, in warmer climates. The reason you can get by with just the morning sunlight is that it kickstarts your plant’s processes,and gets them used to soaking in sunlight earlier, thus promoting more growth. The east area of a structure is recommended, as it captures the most sunlight in the winter season.
If you are choosing to place your greenhouse near an adjoining building, or other potential shade-casting strutures or trees you’ll need to account for the longer shadows that occur in winter.
Other Considerations
Getting the right drainage in place is also important. If you are unsure about the drainage characteristics of the site, an easy way to overcome that is build up a raised foundation. If the greenhouse sites above the ground around it, the rain and irrigated water will naturally drain away. There are, of course, many other site considerations. Don’t forget to consider the locations of your water and electrical sources. And, because a greenhouse structure isn’t as resilient as other structures, you’ll need to consider putting it where it’s protected from heavy winds.
