Whether you’re a hobbyist gardener or a small-scale professional farmer, a greenhouse is a great investment! Not only will using a greenhouse extend your growing season, but it will also significantly increase your crop production.
While they’re well worth the cost, greenhouses generally aren’t cheap. That’s why it’s so important to understand how to use a greenhouse and have a solid plan before you make the financial commitment.
If you’re a first-time user, a high-tunnel greenhouse is a great option. They can accommodate both in-ground and pot-based growing and are less expensive to set up and operate. Here’s a closer look at how these cost-effective greenhouses work and some expert greenhouse tips to help you get started.
Cold Frame vs. Traditional Greenhouses
While they have some similarities, there are also important key differences between a high-tunnel greenhouse and a traditional one. First, most traditional greenhouses are either permanently or semi-permanently anchored to the ground. Second, their walls are often made of hard materials, like polycarbonate or glass, and they almost always have permanent utility hook-ups for lighting, heating, and ventilation.
Instead of anchored into a concrete foundation or footers, high-tunnel greenhouses are made of hoops that anchor directly into the ground. This gives you the ability to deconstruct and move them if necessary. The walls are also made of a thinner material, usually fabric.
A high tunnel greenhouse can be an incredible tool for anyone from a novice gardener to a large-scale farming operation. A hoop house can create an ideal atmosphere to grow crops at an affordable price without sacrificing quality. If you are in the market to increase yield with a tool that is both versatile and strong, ShelterTech SP Greenhouses are a great option.
What is a High Tunnel Greenhouse?
A high tunnel greenhouse, also known as a hoop building or cold frame greenhouse, is an unheated structure with a steel frame and fabric cover. One of the benefits of utilizing one of these fabric buildings is it does not require a heater or fan to manipulate internal temperature. The hoop house instead uses solar heat to create an environment where crops can thrive.
A high tunnel greenhouse from ShelterTech is constructed with high-quality materials like a rustproof steel frame and a durable luminate diffusion fabric cover. They are fully customizable, which means you can pay for only what you need whether you are looking to enhance your large or small farm.
Enjoying the great outdoors is a wonderful thing – but having the right garden storage shed on hand can make creating that dream yard of yours that much simpler.
It’s easy to forget how many tools and specialist growing environments you need to really make the most of even the most modern garden. Watering cans, tools, pots, trimmers – these bits and pieces all add up, and they need somewhere safe and secure to be kept out of sight.
When you need a cost effective and versatile type of garden storage, look no further than a fabric garden shed. Let’s explore the features of this gardening shed option below.
What is a Fabric Garden Shed?
When you think of a gardening shed, it’s easy to think of the classic free-standing structure, tucked at the side or at the end of a big garden. Sometimes they’re light and airy, other times they’re a touch dark, creaky and mysterious – yet either way, they’re far from the only way to make the most of your garden storage.
In fact, a fabric garden shed is often one of the best options available to both amateur and experienced...
Greenhouses, and greenhouse lovers, suffer from a terrible misunderstanding: the idea that greenhouses are only meant for large and open spaces and commercial purposes, that they're only meant for use the way you see them on the TV: for large-scale farming or educational purposes.
However, it's time you discover the other side of greenhouses. After years of observing and fantasizing about big, bulky greenhouse models, you will love the idea of small greenhouses for your balcony, deck, or patio space.
Small and mini-greenhouses, as you'll see in detail right below, are made to suit the space and usage of homeowners. Even when you don't have a vast mansion or an empty backyard just casually waiting to be occupied, you can think of installing small or mini-greenhouses in your house and avail yourself all the benefits of a regular greenhouse in a small one (also included in this article!) — without investing in the gigantic space or effort. Ready to understand how you can build yourself the dreamiest small greenhouse? Let's go!
What Is a Small Greenhouse?
As the name indicates, a small greenhouse primarily differs on one characteristic from most greenhouses you see: the size! Small greenhouses are just like regular greenhouses except for the difference in the space they occupy, the places where their placement is perfect, their compartment...
One of the great things about having a greenhouse is that you can grow your own fresh produce almost all year long. These useful structures allow you to grow different types of plants and extend your growing season by many months.
Wondering what plants you can grow in your greenhouse each season? Take a look through this year-round greenhouse guide!
Seasonal Plants: Greenhouse Growing Guide
When deciding what to grow in a greenhouse during each season, you need to consider two important factors – the length of sun exposure and the outdoor temperature. If you’re using a high tunnel greenhouse, this is even more important since they don't have heaters. Instead, this type of greenhouse relies on insulation and solar energy to create a microclimate for your garden. A major advantage of these structures is that they will provide shelter from wind and inclement weather without overheating your plants.
While light and temperature are still important when using a standard greenhouse, the fact that they have heat and ventilation can help give you more climate control. This can also make it easier to grow tender plants and continue growing crops during the off-seasons...
With wintertime almost over, the first signs of spring are starting to show. With the cold spell coming to an end and with the year still being a new one, this is the perfect time for a fresh, blossoming yard cleanup.
Although it may only look like a couple of twigs and dead flowers to clean up, yard work is so much more taxing in reality. Each branch, each stem, and each pack of fertilizer demands your full attention, and if you take a casual and easy way out, you will leave your yard in a real mess.
However, a well-planned and calculated spring cleanup can help you avoid all the troublesome aspects of the cleaning. Unsurprisingly, planning your yard cleanup can also help your garden grow back much better, thriving, and colorful. Once you have all your energy geared up for a day, or a couple of days’ worth of hard work, here’s what you have to do.
When Should I Start My Spring Cleanup?
Since spring comes gradually and not all at once, it can be a little challenging to determine precisely when you should start your spring cleanup. The departure of winter and arrival of spring can vary in timing and pace. Sometimes, you may notice some of your plants already flowering and bearing fruits while the others have only just turned their leaves brown.
Different plants have different flowering cycles and resistance to winter spells. The soil and fertilizer you use may also create a difference in how ready the garden is at any particular point to go through a yard cleanup. And the most significant...
With the holiday season behind us, and the promise of spring around the corner, now is a great time to start thinking about your backyard garden. Getting a head start on planning your garden can save you a ton of valuable time in April and is a fantastic way to spend a few hours in the meantime.
In recent years there have been a couple of very neat trends emerging in backyard garden design, and so in this article, we'll look at some awesome creative backyard garden ideas for spring 2022; we'll also go over some general gardening tips and tricks and recommend a few great ways of adding flair and functionality to your backyard.
Know your plant hardiness zone
Plants and flowers are, of course, the stars of the show in any garden, but before you can plan your dream backyard garden for spring 2022, you'll first need to know which types of plants will thrive in your local area, and for that, you should consult the USDA plant hardiness zone guide.
Different regions have different climates and different weather patterns, and as such, will be more conducive to some species of plants and not others. So, make sure you know what will work in your area, and choose your spring lineup of seeds and bulbs accordingly. Once you know what plants will thrive in your area, then you can start picking out the best flowers and plants for your garden this spring, and that’s when the fun begins.
Right now, balcony décor is one of the hottest trends in apartment and condo home design. From privacy panels to pergolas to plants and more, 2022 is already shaping up to be the year of the balcony. So, reclaim your outdoor space and make it magnificent with these inspiring balcony décor ideas.
It used to be that most people only ever used their balconies for extra storage, but that's no longer the case. These days, people are transforming their would-be ordinary balconies into stunning spaces that are not only beautiful but versatile too.
By adding décor to your balcony, you can create an entirely different mood, and with the right balcony furniture, you can increase the usability of the space while increasing its aesthetic at the same time.
There are countless options for decorating your balcony, but there are some clear trends that are emerging in balcony décor for apartments and condos in 2022. Storage space, furniture that saves space, and privacy features are leading the pack this year, but classic design features such as plants and unique lighting are certainly still as awesome as ever.
In this article, we’ll look at all of the latest and greatest apartment balcony décor trends in 2022. We’ll also offer a few handy tips and tricks on how to use these items to maximize the space on your balcony while also increasing your comfort and privacy.
Keep reading to learn the top 10 balcony décor ideas for your apartment or condo.
Whether you’re a new gardener who’s just learning the basics, or an experienced farmer who’s looking to extend the growing season, greenhouses are an ideal environment for fruits, vegetables, and other plants to thrive. But there's a lot to learn about greenhouse gardening, and so in this guide, we'll go over everything you need to know to get started with your own portable greenhouse.
In this guide, you'll learn:
What a greenhouse is
How to use a greenhouse
The different types of greenhouses
The advantages of greenhouse gardening
The best way to organize a greenhouse
How to protect your plants and crops from pests
How to clean your greenhouse
And much more
What is a Greenhouse?
A greenhouse is a shelter that allows plants, flowers, fruits, and vegetables to continue growing indoors when the weather outside is no longer conducive to agriculture. In other words, it’s a house for your plants and crops that allows you to control the environmental conditions so that you can keep gardening year-round.
Watching your garden flourish is one of the greatest feelings you can have as an avid gardener. The main benefit of greenhouse gardening is seeing the seedlings you so lovingly planted grow into healthy, bountiful plants.
Whether gardening is a hobby or a profession, a greenhouse can provide the ideal environment for more efficient gardening, extended growing options and growing across seasons. A greenhouse not only helps you to grow and sustain beautiful greenhouse plants and flowers throughout the year but also discover the deliciousness of growing your own fresh vegetables and fruits from your own garden.
Types of Greenhouses
Depending on the kind of crops you want to grow and the space you have available, there are quite a few options when it comes to selecting a garden greenhouse.
Cold frame greenhouses rely on natural heat from the sun to create a microclimate for your plants that is warmer than outside. They are useful for extending your growing seasons especially in the transitional weeks from one season to the next when the weather can be unpredictable.
Portable greenhouses can range from mini compact greenhouses that can easily fit on a balcony to easy-to-assemble and disassemble garden greenhouses that provide enough space to grow as you want without restricting you to one place.
Raised bed greenhouses are perfect if your space is limited or if you don’t need a lot of growing s...