Greenhouse designs take several shapes and sizes. Greenhouse ideas include Aluminium, wooden including cedar wood and part brick built. Greenhouse glazing options include horticultural glass, toughened glass and polycarbonate. Adding a greenhouse to your landscape garden designs is a benefit in horticultural terms and in design and structure. Greenhouses are a useful addition to any garden or backyard and can extend your growing season by several months or even all year around with the addition of heating in cold winter areas.

Greenhouse ideas include :-

• Starting seedlings off early for both your flower beds and the kitchen garden.
• Growing fruit and vegetables in greenhouses provides a more controllable environment for heat and irrigation.
• Tomatoes and Peppers thrive in greenhouses and will give you abundant crops much earlier in the season.
• Over-winter plants that are at risk from frost damage.
• Grow plants that need more heat or humidity like tropical plants.
• Produce early bedding plants for planting outside later on or in hanging baskets.

Selecting the optimum site for your greenhouse is the first thing that you need to decide. You should site it where it will get good sunlight. Even though continual daily sunlight is the top option, plants typically need morning sun the most so choose your position wisely.

The orientation of your greenhouse is also important. Where ever possible, build your greenhouse with the longer side facing to the south. This will ensure that the roof angle will capture the greatest amount of sunlight.

A free draining site also helps but is not essential. Raised beds or benches or greenhouse staging will help in poor soil areas.

Water supply nearby is also a consideration. Can you run a hose pipe to it from your home or even lay pipework underground to a standpipe in your greenhouse. Greenhouse irrigation systems are available to completely automate your greenhouse watering requirements. This is especially useful if you are away from home for periods or where your spare time is limited on a daily basis.

Running an electricity supply to your green house will also be required if you want to use electric heating in winter or to power automated irrigation systems.

Greenhouses can be built in many shapes and sizes depending on your site. For Example :-

• Lean to greenhouses are ideal where there is a high south facing wall or up against your house.
• Traditional wooden greenhouses for more classical gardens and can be designed in Victorian or Edwardian styles for that extra grandeur.
• Hexagonal greenhouses are also a popular shape for compact areas.

Size is important and the largest one you can fit on the site is always best. Go for one with the tallest height at the side wall as this will make it feel bigger especially if you are at all claustrophobic in small spaces. Also pick one that is at least 8 foot wide.

Greenhouse designs can often be found easily up to 14 foot wide and the wider ones have more substantial frames and are generally taller with better air flow.

Construction materials range from traditional short brick walls with a wooden frame, all wooden frames often built from cedar wood, to aluminium greenhouses. Aluminium greenhouse frames are also available in green or white.

Greenhouse glazing options include :-

• Horticultural glass – most common but quite thin and fragile
• Toughened glass – usually in bigger panes and stronger
• Polycarbonate – higher insulation value and more child and accident friendly

Plenty of ideas for greenhouse designs to choose from here. Whether you choose an aluminium or wooden frame, glass or polycarbonate glazing, there is a greenhouse suitable for all landscape garden designs.