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Greenhouse Gardening

Types of Greenhouses

Cold Frames

Most veteran gardeners are familiar with the cold frame. Although not exactly a greenhouse, a cold frame gives seedlings and transplants an earlier outdoor start in the spring. A cold frame is also a great way to begin "hardening off" tender perennials that you have stored in your basement or garage.

A cold frame is a low-to-the-ground, unheated structure with solid sides and a removable or hinged transparent top. The top admits sunlight and helps the frame retain enough radiant heat to protect plants overnight. The sides may be made of just about any building medium: brick, wood, aluminum, steel, or plastic. Easy to build for the do-it-yourselfer, you also can find inexpensive and ready-made cold frames available at most home improvement and garden centers.

Greenhouse kits

Although you can contract to have a greenhouse built, greenhouse kits are generally a less expensive alternative. Smaller greenhouse kits range in price from about $700.00 to $1200.00. Greenhouse kits typically make set-up a very simple process. Usually, as few as two able-bodied individuals can set up a greenhouse kit in a single day.

Two common types of greenhouse kits are the window greenhouse and the stand-alone or walk in greenhouse kit. The Walk-In (Stand Alone) Greenhouse Kit

Where you live is a deciding factor in your choice of a greenhouse kit. Your area's climate has a large impact and may require you to purchase add-ons or extras for your greenhouse.

Folks who live in the north may need greenhouse kits that offer double glazed windows, whether constructed from either glass or plastic. Double-glazing gives your plants extra heat and protection from cold temperatures during winter months.
Insulating the ground under the greenhouse to the frost line also helps keep the heat in your greenhouse.
If your climate is extremely cold, you may also need to supply heaters to your hobby greenhouse.
Those who live in extremely warm climates may need to install a misting system. Greenhouse misters help keep plants cool, as well as hydrated, during warm weather.
Tropical plant growers usually need a professional quality greenhouse with electrical, water, and heat supplies to provide constant temperatures using misters, fans, and heaters.

Some stand-alone greenhouse kits feature shelves that fold down when not in use. Another useful feature you in some greenhouse kits is slotted shelving that allows excess garden soil to fall through and excess water to drain from the shelving surface.

When choosing a walk-in greenhouse kit, be sure that it provides a large enough space to move comfortably inside. Of course, some folks don't have enough yard space for a stand-alone greenhouse at all! However, today's greenhouses fit all kinds of spaces and all kinds of budgets.

The Solarium — Sunroom

The solarium is known to some as a three, or depending on you climate and heating system, four season porch or sunroom. Aside from providing you with extra gardening space and an extended growing season, the solarium gives you extra living space and creates a cozy and elegant addition to any property. A solariums is a three walled structure extension, with the fourth wall providing an entrance to its parent structure.

Although most often connected to a property's living quarters, solariums can also be attached to a garage or potting shed.

Unlike traditional home additions, solariums are typically less expensive and are quickly completed. Although solarium "kits" are few and far between, the Internet is full of ideas and plans on how and where to construct a solarium to optimize both your gardening space and your living space.

Like the solarium, the garden window, lets you garden from the convenience of your home and makes maximum use of indoor garden space.

Extend Gardening Space & Time with a Window Greenhouse

Even though you have limited space, it is possible for you to have your very own greenhouse with the installation of a garden window, also called a window greenhouse.

Garden windows are designed from the inside out. Standard features of the window greenhouse maximize the window's glass area, provide easy access to window handles, and are usually equipped with a self-locking system. Most modern garden windows also feature double glazed windows with an energy saving sealing system.

Most garden windows are custom made to fit your space and assembled in the factory. Installation consists of removal of your old window, including sash and frame, and fitting the new window into the empty space. For more detailed instructions on adding a garden window to your home, see Gardening-Guides article, Installing a Garden Window.

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