Greenhouses offer plant protection

Okay, you can buy all your plants at a local nursery or gardening store like so many of your friends and neighbours probably do, but they spend a heap on those plants and don’t get one quarter the pleasure you will, from growing your own from seed.

Starting seeds in a greenhouse will allow you to have your plants ready weeks before other people can even being to think about going and buying theirs and it means you’ll have spare plants to hand out around the neighbourhood because most seeds will germinate more plants than you can possibly use, and so you get to play Father Christmas to your friends and family.

Keen gardeners can be picking tomatoes in early May from sheltered spots in outdoor gardens because they started off their in the greenhouse while snow was still on the ground.

In addition, the predations of birds and small mammals are much reduced – seedlings are often nipped off by birds or squirrels and you can keep your tender plants indoors, protected from the effects of both weather and predators, until they are large enough to cope with life outdoors. This also allows you to condition your plants. For example, running your hand over the top of tiny seedlings encourages them to grow stronger, stockier stems, without putting them at risk of snapping as they might in strong winds or being blighted by frost.

And, of course, you can extend the life of your plants by bringing otherwise tender varieties like fuchsia hybrids and abutilons grown in pots, olives and citrus trees, into the greenhouse for winter.