If you are a pro-level eco-friendly gardener, the next arrow in your arsenal should certainly be making your own greenhouse. While there are plenty of greenhouse options like Victorian Greenhouse, it’s often hard to find something that’s sustainable as a whole. That’s why, if you have the time for it, we would suggest that you try to make your own eco-friendly greenhouse. And how do you do that? Let’s take a look and find out with the help of this guide.
Guide to Make Your Own Sustainable Greenhouse
There are two ways you can go about it, you could either build all of it from scratch, or you could simply buy some of components from distributors like Exaco Greenhouse, and work using them. Here, in this article, we would delineate an approach that would be suitable for you irrespective of what your approach is. Let’s take a look at all the points involved.
1. Select an Ideal Site
Selecting the right site for the greenhouse isn’t just the first step; it’s also the most important step. Did you know that more than 80 percent of energy that a greenhouse utilizes is just for heating? So, if you figure out a location that tends to receive plenty of heat as it is, that would immediately make your greenhouse more sustainable. So, not only it should be away from tall nearby structures, it should also be oriented in a way that makes it receive maximum amount of sunlight. An east-west oriented greenhouse with a long south side would be ideal for this.
2. Design The Right Structure
Once you have selected the site, designing is the next thing that you should focus on. Since you are doing it yourself, you can let go of the conventions and design it in a way that maximizes the efficiency. In this too, you can focus on two aspects. First, you can focus on the construction aspect. For example, instead of cement foundation, opting for a compacted soil foundation for smaller greenhouses and opting for gravel foundation for larger greenhouses would work wonderfully well. Apart from that, things like wooden decks made out of sustainably sourced would are also a great option. Also, instead of using plastic panels, using glass panels like you see in Janssens Greenhouse would work well in the long term.
Even slight changes in the color, shading, and the coloring material could be used to customize the heat your greenhouse receives from the outside. Just avoid any VOC options, since they tend to release toxic chemicals in their surroundings. Recycle and reuse wherever you can, and just remember, natural for the most part is more sustainable than the artificial.
3. Make Your Greenhouse Water Efficient
When it comes to making your greenhouse sustainable, water efficiency goes a long way. Instead of using hoses or even sprinkler irrigation system, a better option would be to invest in innovative water saving systems like drip irrigation, as it tends to save more than 50% of the water. Also, having a huge water reservoir that’s connected to a rainwater harvesting system would be cherry on top.
Final Words
By following these three simple advices you can make your own sustainable greenhouse. Although we must add that there’s no end to how green you go with it. For example, using solar panels for electricity, modular “plug and play” wiring system, LED’s are few other things that you can add. Lastly, just remember to make optimum use of the greenhouse, as only then it’d be worth all the money and effort that you spend on it.
Article Submitted By Community Writer
