What To Know About Having A Sustainable Greenhouse at Home

Imagine having a greenhouse and raising plants year-round. Be the local orchid expert, and grow your own vegetables. This is all possible if you have a greenhouse of your own. Here are a few considerations that will quickly narrow down the seemingly overwhelming number of options and find which one is for you

Choosing A Location for A Sustainable Greenhouse

• Do you have reasonable access to water and electricity? Hand watering, hauling buckets, no fans, no heat, and other amenities can reduce growing success and enjoyment.

• Is the structure going to complement the architecture and style of the home? (Or will it be off to one side of a building and may not matter.) Consider orientation to get the most hours of sunlight year-round.

• Will you be able to get heavy products to the greenhouse easily? Soil, bags of fertilizer, and other growing materials often weigh a lot.

• Where do you live geographically? The shape of the roof matters if there will be a snow load to carry or high winds.

Deciding What Plants To Use In Your Greenhouse

• If you are not an experienced grower, you should limit the number of plant varieties. Each plant has its own requirements for light temperature and water. If you cannot offer proper care to each need, the plant will be stressed with poor health. Thus attracting disease and pests, which can affect the entire area, Keep it simple and raise less variety but higher quality.

• What plants will be happy growing in your location? Light matters, and if you are in a northern region, your sunlight hours and intensity will be less than in a southern state. Microclimates are found even inside sustainable greenhouse structures.

• Space, an orchid house interior is vastly different from vegetable growing. A Calamondin tree needs much more height and width than low geraniums on long benches.

• How much of a time commitment do you want to spend in the greenhouse? Do you like to go away on vacations? The more maintenance a plant needs, the more time it will require to keep it in top shape.

Suppose you consider style location and plants before shopping. In that case, it will become clear what type of sustainable greenhouse will work best for you. The next decision is how much to spend. For a greenhouse construction project, break costs down into these four categories.

• The purchase and installation of the building.

• Prep work footing, drainage, and foundation.

• Electrical, including how much power you will need based on cubic area

• irrigation water source and type

• Benches, planter beds, soil, fans, grow lights, heater, soil.

These are significant expenses, but there will be small items like soil, tools, seeds, starter plants, and fertilizer. Lastly, remember to be sure local zoning laws will allow an additional structure of this size on the lot you own.

If you are ready to jump into greenhouse ownership, here's a list of manufacturers to research;

• Hartley Botanic Luxury Greenhouse designs

• Conservatory Craftsman Luxury Greenhouse designs

• Gothic Arch Greenhouses Luxury Greenhouse designs

• Growing spaces Geodesic Domes

• Cedar-Built Greenhouses Smaller wood frame designs

• Greenhouse Megastore More commercial Greenhouse styles

  Dive in and do not be daunted. A sustainable greenhouse provides an unparalleled learning experience that grows not only plants but invaluable lessons in nature.

With In Green Living, Joni Keefe shares nature-based design choices for urban greenspaces and Interior Design. Her interests follow Real Estate & housing sustainable agriculture, eco-friendly building products, and the latest trends in green design. She is a published writer with horticultural design work featured in national publications.