The Seasons Of Your Greenhouse

By Hartley Botanic
Photographs courtesy of Hartley Botanic

Springtime is a gardener’s dream, as it marks the beginning of preparation for the upcoming year. To ensure a fruitful harvest, it’s crucial to plan, pot, and sow. Installing staging and shelving in your greenhouse provides useful work and storage space, while also showcasing your plants and seedlings.

A thorough cleaning of your greenhouse is essential to prevent the spread of pests and diseases. Ensure all gardening equipment, including pots and trays, are clean and in good condition. Adequate preparation will keep your plants healthy and productive throughout the growing season.

Hartley 8 Planthouse (4 Pane) - London, UK

Functional Design

To create an organized plant area, ensure proper air flow and pest control in your greenhouse, consider incorporating the following elements:

Staging: Display your plants on staging at around table height to maintain a plant-friendly habitat. The Hartley staging, made of durable alloy slats, is an excellent option for pots or trays filled with grit or gravel.

Shelving: Make more efficient use of space by occupying higher parts of your greenhouse with shelves. They also create elevated displays of ornamental plants.

Potting bench and compost store: Set aside an area of staging for a potting bench, or to store equipment or compost in a waterproof locker or cupboard beneath to help keep the greenhouse tidy.

Floor standing space: Include a standing area for larger plants, ensuring the area drains freely to prevent waterlogging of pots.

Under the staging: Space under the greenhouse staging can become a valuable asset, providing a shaded and relatively dry environment.

Greenhouse beds: If you plan to grow food crops, cut flowers or anything else in quantity, you will probably want to set up some greenhouse beds. A greenhouse built on a brick foundation with natural soil as its floor will have the advantage of ready-made growing facilities. If the building rests on a concrete base, raised beds can be built or growing bags used for crops and plants.

Lodge - Poland

The Importance Of Ventilation

Proper ventilation, including the use of automatic vents that open and close based on temperature and humidity levels, will help maintain a comfortable temperature for your plants.

During the summer months, ventilation becomes crucial to controlling temperature and managing humidity levels. A combination of roof and lower-level vents allows hot air to escape, ensuring proper air circulation and nourishment for your plants. You can even use a fan to circulate air faster, aiding in cooling.

Grand Manor - Virginia, USA

Keep Your Greenhouse At The Correct Temperature

Greenhouse heating systems range from providing warmth against frost to constant heating. However, be mindful of the cost and carbon footprint of artificial heating. One cost-effective heating system is to warm soil using a soil-warming cable. You can also reduce heat loss by installing winter insulation, such as bubble wrap polythene.

A greenhouse allows for year-round growing, but it’s important to keep the outside temperature in mind and keep your greenhouse heated. A night minimum of 40ºF is recommended, and a dehumidifier can reduce dampness and save on heat loss through ventilation.

Villa - Derbyshire, UK

As the temperature rises, it’s important to use blinds or shades to prevent overheating.

Every Hartley Botanic Glasshouse is handmade to order, so for customers looking for structures designed perfectly to suit personal interests, lifestyles and tastes, the possibilities really are endless. Customers interested in purchasing a Hartley Botanic Glasshouse may visit the website or call to speak to a member of our experienced team at 781-933-1993.

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