Forum home Tools and techniques
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

is it worth buying a greenhouse? Which one?

Hi everyone! I'm a total gardening novice, this is my first year of gardening and so far I love it. Most of the things I grow are in pots and containers including some tomatoes, courgettes and peppers. But my aunt made me a raised bed while I was in hospital with my son. Sadly most of the plants on it were eaten by slugs, so it seems quite useless. And now my husband offered me to put a greenhouse there instead of that raised bed. The space has sun from morning till about 2pm and the bed is currently about 2x1 m. Is it worth investing in a greenhouse at all? Which one would be better if we don't have a lot of money?

Posts

  • Hi

    If you are just starting out you can buy portable greenhouses for about £20 from garden centres that will fill your 2 x 1m space. More permanent greenhouses for a size 4 foot x 6 foot  can start from £500, in these you can have a portable heater. Not advised in the £20 ones though.

    To help with snails, try putting crushed egg shells around your plants. Slug and snails don't like going over them. Hope this helpsimage

  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,888

    Darya, my advice would be to get the biggest and best quality space and budget allow. 

    As Alan Titchmarsh once said " 2 things in the garden which can never be too big: your greenhouse and your compost bins"

    Devon.
  • HippophaeHippophae Posts: 154

    Yes a greenhouse is a must and always a worthwhile investment if used! It will expand what you are able to do and grow in your garden tenfold! I agree with Hostafan1, go large!

  • cathy43cathy43 Posts: 373

    I got my first proper greenhouse last year, on advice got it twice the size I thought I needed but a size that filled the space I had 6'x8', oddly this year it doesn't seem quite big enough?image 

    Agree with advice above get the biggest you can, just think, salad all year!! Hope you enjoy it 

  • Katherine WKatherine W Posts: 410

    It is so much fun to have a greenhouse, and useful too, but unless you can afford a good, sturdy one, I think it maybe more practical to build your own from recycled/upcycled materials ( I did, it was easy and very satisfactory).

    The cheap flimsy ones they sell flat packet at the GC don't last, and you'll waste non just your money, but also the time for assembling, the time to clear away the wreckage when the whole thing flops down, and possibly also a number of plants that get involved in the wreckage.

    When you decide on the size, imagine what you think you need, double that, double it again and then add one m in each direction, and you might have a good size (for a year or two... then you'll want a bigger one) image

    There's lots of free plans on the internet for building greenhouses and such, which might give you some ideas.

    If u use the raised bed place, flatten it first, or even better dig down some 20 - 50 cm, it keeps the GH better insulated. (don't do that if the place is subject to flooding)

  • CeresCeres Posts: 2,697

    Have a look on ebay or Gumtree to see if there are any second hand ones for sale in your area. You could get a decent sized greenhouse for a fraction of the retail cost though you will probably have to do the dismantling and haulage yourselves.

Sign In or Register to comment.