The most obvious benefit of having your own greenhouse is the growing season is extended beyond the first frosts, of winter and the last frosts of spring. This is particularly useful if, like thousands of gardeners every year, you are tempted by the delights on display at the garden center early in the year, which are too vulnerable to be put out in the garden until the risk of frost has passed.

It is simply not practical to protect each individual betting plant with fleece, yet if you wait until latter in the season the best plants have sold out. Greenhouses and frames offer the perfect solution, providing an environment for hardening off, gradually acclimatising plants to the elements prior to planting out. Favorite tender plants may also be safely over wintered.

For most gardeners propagation remains the impetus for buying a greenhouse. Although it will take time to repay the initial investment, great savings can be made by creating new stock in large numbers. The satisfaction in producing your own plants is immense and the techniques are essentially very simple.

The traditional greenhouse

The traditional greenhouse has vertical sides, closed in lower part, and an evenly spanned roof. It uses space well and the covered lower part conserves heat effectively, making it energy efficient. A wide range of accessories such as shelves and staging is available to suit this type of greenhouse, making it a good all round choice. Many sizes are available, choose one to suit both your garden and the amount of time you plan to spend in the greenhouse. A keen propagator will quickly outgrow a small model.

The lean-to greenhouse

A lean-to greenhouse built against a wall is useful for those who do not want to give up precious garden space. Because the lean-to is situated against a wall, it retains heat well, often benefiting not only from sunlight, but from a certain amount of heat emitted by the heating system of the home.

Lean-to greenhouses can be extremely attractive in their own right and can double up as garden rooms if there is a connecting door to the home. Their reduced glazed surface means that they are less expensive to heat than a conventional greenhouse, although obviously the receive less light than traditional models.

Watering and heating systems are also comparatively simple to install, there being no need to lay cables to a more distant part of the garden.

The mini greenhouse

Mini greenhouse provide an excellent introduction to growing under glass, invaluable not only to the gardener with limited space, but also to the novice who does not wish to make a costly investment in a more substantial model. Both free standing and lean-to mini greenhouses are available.

Specialist greenhouse

A range of greenhouses in unusual shapes and sizes are available. Some are designed primarily for their decorative properties, such as octagonal greenhouses, others for increased efficiency of heat retention or stability in high winds. A major drawback of a specialist greenhouse is that staging, shelving, glazing accessories and replacements are not standard items. The choice may therefore be both limited and expensive.