Gardening Pleasures

Posts Tagged ‘greenhouse’

Building your own small greenhouse can be an enjoyable and economical especially if you are clever with tools. Select well-drained and level ground for your greenhouse. If you will be using it mainly in summer for plant propagation, it can be situated in partial shade to reduce heat buildup.

The north side of your garden, with some shade from a tree is an ideal location. If there is no partly or moderately shady area available, you can use white paint or shade cloth on the inside ceiling to regulate the amount of sunlight that comes into the interior of  your greenhouse.

If you will be using the greenhouse for young transplants or growing plants on to maturity and fruiting, your greenhouse should be put up in an area with the highest sun exposure available in your garden. Also, situate it where there is good air flow and reasonable water drainage. Do not construct your greenhouse in low lying areas surrounded by tall buildings or woods.  When deciding where to put the greenhouse be sure to consider how convenient the access to water and electricity is going to be.

Take into consideration the time you have for working in your greenhouse when choosing the kind of greenhouse you want and how big it is going to be. Although it’s not true that a greenhouse requires continuous attention, don’t be overly ambitious and buy something that will be more than you want to handle.  New owners of greenhouses often think they will spend far more time there than they actually can or that the greenhouse will not require as much maintenance as they do.

The greenhouse environment can be sustained often with minimal maintenance if using automated controls that operate the ventilation, heating, humidity, artificial lighting and watering. If, however, you don’t want (or can’t afford) to install an automated control system, begin with plants that don’t require specialist care.

There are many prefabricated greenhouses on the market or you can build one by using simple frames. For safety sake, make sure that a certified plumber and electrician installs any automated systems.

Greenhouse kits are widely available in various materials, styles and price ranges. Be sure to check with the local planning department if the greenhouse you choose requires planning consent.  Most won’t, but a really large one situated next to your neighbour’s kitchen window just might. Better safe than sorry.

If you are an avid DIY’er, your new greenhouse can be constructed for a relatively small outlay of cash.  A lean-to greenhouse can be built against a garage or a house, thereby taking advantage of the existing wall, but don’t forget to consider head room and sitting space.

There are some major advantages to purchasing a greenhouse kit. Details like humidity, ventilation and leakage have already been dealt with in the design. Whereas someone constructing the greenhouse from scratch must remember to consider all elements just to avoid problems in the future that could result in the greenhouse not functioning as it should.

Here are some tips to help you design and build your own small greenhouse:

1.  Begin with a design that uses materials that are readily available. Attractive greenhouses can be constructed using recycled materials such single glazed windows or reused lumber.

2.  Adapt the design to accommodate the climate in your area so you won’t have to make further adjustments later.

3. Use a design that makes use of standard-sized building materials. Specialist sizes always cost more.

4.  When planning the design of your greenhouse, take into account the type of gardening you enjoy and plan to do.  Growing rare specimen plants or hydroponic gardening is very different from growing the run of the mill vegetables and flowers for the garden.

5.  Considering the climate in your area, plan into the design any timers and thermostats needed to regulate the precise levels of heat or light you want for the plants you will be growing.

6.  Design and implement a back-up arrangement for operating heating or lighting equipment in case of power failures or extreme weather conditions.

7.  If you are building a wooden greenhouse, you can use cedar, redwood or cypress, but remember that you will have to regularly treat or paint the wood. For cost-effectiveness and economy, use pressure treated wood for the framing.

8.  Greenhouses often have glass panes installed, but polycarbonate plastic, fiberglass, plastic film or acrylic panes or sheets can also be used.

Greenhouses have come a long way over the past ten years both in terms of price and materials used.  A greenhouse is vital to a keen gardener for extending the growing season and the types of plants they can grow.

Although some nurseries may specialize in certain plants, generally a nursery is incomplete without stocking roses.  A nursery should offer a better selection of types and sizes of rose plants already started than any other store.  Nurseries are placed worldwide.  You can find nurseries almost anywhere in the United States, Australia, and Canada, for instance.   A bigger nursery would be a safer bet for ease of selection, featuring more stock, a bigger variety, and plants in different stages.  You could have the nurseries order your roses should they not stock what you are searching for, or if they lack enough of your choice of rose plant.  Ask about group discounts if you belong to a club or discounts for a senior citizen or even a veteran; maybe you are ordering in bulk and can get a discount for quantity.

Ask your local nursery if it ever has presentations to show you all about roses.  Maybe they have a shop nearby where they sell things pertaining to roses, like souvenirs or items for the beginning gardener.

Someone who belongs to a garden club or who owns a farm may be able to provide input on nurseries operating in your area.  You could call your local farm feed store for information on area nurseries.  Some farm feed stores order plants from nurseries to sell at their own place of business.

A benefit of visiting your local nurseries would include seeing your plants already in various stages of growth, including flowering.  You can see the condition of the plant before purchase.  Buying a rose already started will save you time if you are in a hurry to begin your rose gardening.

A bigger, more established nursery involves more than just a greenhouse.  Much is done to maintain a good nursery.   There are workers who must be trained to plant, tend, handle, load, and unload.  Roses must be harvested, graded, packed properly in strong boxes.  The trucks that carry the roses should be climate-controlled.  The flowers may have to be hand-pollinated.  There are different types of mulch, fertilizers, insect control products, temperature settings, and disposal of plants or pruned parts.

A nursery differs slightly from a garden center.  A garden center could be as simple as a small area in your local discount department store.  A nursery is more involved in the specifics of the planting, harvesting, tending, and selling.  What some stores call a garden center may also include tools or power equipment to maintain the garden.  Nurseries are more beneficial to the economy in that they usually have huge greenhouses, plants help the quality of our air, nurseries provide jobs, taxes are paid from the sale of the plants, and items are bought to maintain the nurseries.

One way to learn the most about growing roses is to get a job in a nursery or start your own.  If you like the idea of owning your own nursery, do your homework.  Research, research, research, so that your business will be successful and a place people will be proud to return to.