Siting Your Greenhouse

When deciding on the best place for your greenhouse, there are a few factors to consider which will ensure that your greenhouse will be sited in the best place for you and your plants. 

Space

Space can be at a premium within your garden, but when deciding the size of your greenhouse and where to place it remember that you will need space around the greenhouse so that you can keep it clean, and if you are going to be collecting water from the greenhouse into a waterbutt, you need to leave sufficient space for these at either front or rear of the greenhouse. 

Light

You need as much light as possible to reach your greenhouse, so ideally position your greenhouse away from trees, hedges and buildings. Apart from shading your greenhouse, trees will shed their leaves which will fall into the gutters of your greenhouse, fruit trees may well shed fruit or branches and break your greenhouse glass and honeydew may drip from the trees making the glass sticky and dirty.
Avoid north facing slopes because the light will never be as good as you want.

Orientation

Different gardeners believe different things when it comes to the orientation of your greenhouse. Some say the ridge of the greenhouse should run north to south, others east to west as this leaves the length of the greenhouse facing the southward sun. The important factor is that you want your greenhouse to receive optimum winter sun - a south facing greenhouse will trap more heat, and during the summer shading is simpler as you only need to shade one side of the greenhouse.
However, the average size greenhouse for a garden is a 6’ x 8’ – when this size of greenhouse is glazed to the ground in glass the orientation is no longer a factor as light loss is minimal.
The exception to these rules is if you are having a lean-to greenhouse – in this case the ideal is to site the lean-to on a south facing side. This will allow the greenhouse to capture maximum heat during the day, whilst at night the greenhouse will benefit from heat from your house.

Access

Easy access to your greenhouse is likely to increase the amount of time you spend in it. If you can position your greenhouse so that it is close to your house, but not shaded by it, you’re more likely to go to it than one positioned at the end of your garden.

Shelter

Depending on where you live, you may need to consider providing some shelter from prevailing winds. You will need to compromise between shelter and light – hedges, lattice fences or trees all will provide useful shelter if your greenhouse is in an exposed area. Strong winds will also reduce the temperature within your greenhouse, so providing some shelter could well prove helpful during spring and autumn when temperatures can be low. Also remember that the greenhouse door – whether hinged or sliding – should be on the leeward side of the prevailing winds – this should help prevent the door being forced further open in strong winds.

Level

Ideally level ground is best when siting a greenhouse – this avoids water being directed into the greenhouse if you place it at the base of a slope – and also makes building the greenhouse much easier. If the site isn’t level correct this before you start building by using topsoil to level the area.

Drainage

If you want to grow from the ground into your greenhouse then make sure that the ground where your greenhouse is to be placed has good drainage. If the best site for your greenhouse doesn’t drain well, then ideally improve the soil before building your greenhouse.

Security

Greenhouse security covers both the possibility of theft and also vandalism. Unfortunately greenhouses can be an easy target for children messing around and throwing stones – if this is the case in your area then you might be better with a greenhouse with plastic glazing – not as easily broken as glass and also easier to replace than glass if need be.