Greenhouse Advice

Size a greenhouse heater by its floor and it comes out too small. The heat leaves through the walls and roof, which in a walk-in greenhouse add up to two to four times the floor, so the size you need follows the glazing and how much warmer than outside you want it. Settle the job first, work out the size from those two numbers, seal the gaps, and the running cost becomes a figure you can predict.

UK greenhouse year structured as 6 phases not 12 months — wake-up, planting out, growing, peak, wind-down, rest. Realistic month-by-month tasks for unheated greenhouse.

The 5 decisions that drive UK greenhouse placement — sun (east-west long axis), frost pockets, wind exposure, drainage, practical access. With a printable scoring worksheet.

The 5-line breakdown of wooden greenhouse cost in UK 2026 — kit, delivery, base prep, assembly, 10-year maintenance — with mid-range NORDIC, budget tier, and heritage tier compared.

Most garden greenhouses need no planning application, but the line that catches people moves with the border. In England and Wales, any part of a greenhouse within 2 m of the boundary can be no higher than 2.5 m. In Scotland the same 2.5 m applies only within 1 m. In Northern Ireland it is the eaves that are limited near the boundary. Here are the rules for each nation, from the official guidance, and the cases where permission is always needed.

The honest annual maintenance schedule for a wooden greenhouse in UK conditions — re-treatment timing, polycarbonate care, vent service, decay timeline if you skip it.

Greenhouse staging and shelving — materials compared (aluminium, steel, wood), layout strategies for each NORDIC size, four mistakes that cost growers years of useful life.

Nine construction details that determine whether a wooden greenhouse runs for 5 years or 30, with a diagnostic checklist to use when shopping.

The seven questions that decide whether a polytunnel or a wooden greenhouse is right for your UK growing — including the situations where polytunnel genuinely wins.

The four practical greenhouse categories — cold frame, mini, lean-to, and freestanding — with the honest case for each, including when a £40 cold frame beats a greenhouse.

The four grade tiers of UK wooden greenhouse — £200 self-builds to £20,000+ heritage glasshouses — with a spec-by-spec breakdown of what changes between them.

What insulation methods actually work in a UK greenhouse, real heat-loss numbers, sensible heater choices, and a real winter case study.