What if you could have fresh produce and beautiful blooms almost all year long? With the right greenhouse, you totally can! But the design possibilities can feel endless.
Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered with these incredible ideas for any backyard, big or small.
1. Elegant and Efficient
If you’re dreaming of an indoor garden, a glass greenhouse is the answer. I know they can be a bit of an investment, but they are so worth it for creating a truly stunning feature in your backyard. You get a permanent structure that’s going to look incredible for decades.
Of course, you’ll want to keep it looking its best. This just means protecting the metal framework from any corrosion and giving the glass a good wash every now and then.
This little bit of upkeep keeps your greenhouse looking so crisp and fresh and makes sure plenty of beautiful light can stream in.
2. Wooden Wonderlands
A wood-framed greenhouse is just so beautiful, isn’t it? These structures are durable and unassuming, and they’ll give you an amazing amount of growing space.
My top tip is to choose a pressure-treated wood or a hardwood that is resistant to decay; this makes it super durable and long-lasting. After that, you just have to decide how you’ll enclose the space.
For a more affordable route, you can staple plastic sheeting to the wood. Or, you could think about an upgrade to corrugated clear plastic, which is more durable and provides better insulation. Installing glass panels is another option, but they are much pricier and need a bit more planning.
If extending your growing season is the goal, you should insulate your wood greenhouse and make sure there’s good ventilation. This will give you so much more control over the internal temperature.
I’d suggest installing moveable vents in the ceiling and near the bottom of the walls. This setup cleverly draws the hottest air out from the top and pulls in cool air from below. As that cooler air heats and rises, it keeps fresh air circulating. It’s a fantastic system!
3. Inspiring Conservatory Suggestions
Do you just adore the look of those Victorian greenhouses? I love their impressive vaulted ceilings and all-glass walls. They feature ornate details and feel like traditional buildings, just completely transparent.
Modern takes on the conservatory keep that same impressive scale but often skip the intricate details and use larger panes of glass.
It’s important to know that a conservatory isn’t the same as a greenhouse. If you’re hoping for a livable area you can enjoy in addition to growing plants, then a conservatory is what you want. If your focus is more on a rustic, gardening-focused space, a greenhouse will be perfectly fine.
There are several conservatory kits out there that make building one easier and more affordable. Still, a conservatory is going to cost more than a standard greenhouse.
Make sure you have plenty of land to put up your structure. Once it’s built, you can get so creative with the inside by adding a seating or dining area!
4. Functional and Stylish
A basic, simple greenhouse might just cover your plants, but a more elaborate one will be taller and offer much more room. While leaving your plants on the ground is an option, it’s such a waste of all that great vertical space.
I’d definitely consider building shelves to give yourself more area for growing.
You could have a few small, shallow shelves for your seedling trays. They don’t require a lot of room, so you can position them closer together and they’ll still get plenty of light. Once you spot some good plant growth, you can move them into bigger pots.
Here’s a little science tip: remember that warm air rises. Because of this, the higher up you go in your greenhouse, the hotter it will be. While some plants don’t love that hot and humid air, others absolutely thrive in it. This gives you so much more freedom with the types of plants you can grow!
5. Contemporary Concepts
For early greenhouse builders, glass was a very expensive material. It was also fragile and tricky to build with. This is why older buildings have smaller panes of glass, resulting in greenhouses with many panels supported by metal frames.
Thankfully, modern innovations have totally changed the glass production process. These wonderful improvements led to buildings with much larger window panes.
Modern greenhouses are all about sleek lines and sharp corners. You’ll notice a lot less metal framework and much bigger sheets of glass.
You can use these bright, open-air spaces for so much more than just growing plants. They’ve really become living spaces that let you feel like you are outside without actually having to be.
6. Practical and Easy-to-Implement Construction
Your greenhouse really doesn’t need to be some extravagant structure. There are so many great DIY greenhouse ideas out there to inspire your design. One really popular choice is to use PVC pipe for the frame and then cover it with greenhouse plastic for the walls and ceiling.
I think this design is such a smart option because PVC won’t rot or corrode, so you know it will be durable. The pipe also comes in tons of lengths, sizes, and shapes, so you’ll have zero trouble finding the perfect pieces to build the structure you envision.
Plastic sheeting is another excellent material to work with. You can cut it to the exact size you need so easily and then attach it right to the pipe.
Here’s a simple idea for how to build a greenhouse with rebar and metal pipe:
- First, stake metal rebar pieces into the corners and along the sides of your plant row.
- Next, place a short piece of pipe right over each metal bar.
- Then, bend several longer pieces of rebar into arch shapes.
- Push the ends of your arches into one of the metal pipes.
- Finally, drape the plastic sheeting over your arches and secure it to the pipe with some heavy-duty zip ties.
7. Creative Potting Shed Greenhouse Ideas
Sometimes you just need an indoor spot to keep all of your greenhouse supplies together. This space is a protected and enclosed room perfect for storing potting soil, hand tools, extra pots, irrigation supplies, or anything else you might use while caring for your plants.
Your shed doesn’t have to be anything over the top. This isn’t a structure designed to impress everyone. Instead, it’s all about providing a level of security and organization.
You should think about building a potting bench inside your shed. It can act as a great countertop surface where you can stand comfortably to work on potting, pruning, and other garden tasks.
You’ll want plenty of room to spread out and tend to your plants. It truly is the ideal spot for starting seedlings from scratch or moving healthy plants into larger pots.
8. Space-Saving Ideas
You absolutely don’t need a huge greenhouse to have an effective space for growing. Your structure only needs to be large enough to cover your plants. You could simply use clear plastic sheeting to protect your plants, which still lets you grow them in the ground or in containers.
The plastic is great for trapping heat and shielding your plants from frost. This kind of covering is portable, convertible, and so easy to add when the weather starts to change.
If you’re after something a little bigger, there are tons of greenhouse kits that give you a small, shed-sized spot for growing. It might be a space just big enough for one person to walk into and stand.
For those with a small backyard, this is such a good option. I’d look for a kit that includes shelves on the inside to give you even more surface area for your plants.
9. Innovative Designs
When you’re putting together your greenhouse plans, it’s so important to think about the shape of the structure. The shape you ultimately pick will really depend on the space you have, the kinds of plants you’re hoping to grow, and how you want the whole thing to function.
A barn-style greenhouse looks just like a little barn and works best when you pair it with a heater. A hoop greenhouse has a rounded dome shape that gets installed over plants in the ground, like strawberries. A hoop house is just a bigger version that you could walk into comfortably.
If you aren’t keen on installing a heating system, you might want to build a cold-frame greenhouse. These cleverly use the sun’s power and insulation to keep your plants nice and warm.
Then you have the geodome greenhouse, which is similar to the hoop style, but instead of a long tube, it’s a rounded structure, kind of like an angular igloo.
10. Charming Rustic Touches
You don’t have to break the bank to have your own greenhouse. All you really need are a few key supplies. Instead of dropping a lot of money on expensive glass, you could use plastic sheeting.
Choose a wood frame instead of a steel one. To save even more, you can use recycled materials.
If you happen to live in a rural area, you might have access to hay bales. And guess what? Hay is an amazing insulating material and is absolutely perfect for trapping heat. You can build a DIY greenhouse with a wood frame, clear plastic on top, and hay bales for the sides.
Just like that, you have a straw bale greenhouse that is insulated and surprisingly warm. You don’t even need to spend a lot. Try negotiating with a local farmer to see if you can buy their extra stock at the end of the season.
11. Transform Your Porch
Do you happen to have a porch that you’re not really using? Why not make it into a greenhouse and use that space for your potted plants? This completely gets rid of the need to build a whole separate structure.
It could even increase your home’s value by adding more livable space. Instead of just an open area, future owners could easily turn your greenhouse into a relaxing sunroom.
When you’re building your greenhouse porch, you’ll want to be sure it faces the right direction (for the northern hemisphere, south-facing is ideal). It definitely needs to get the proper amount of light.
Next, you should check your local laws and regulations to ensure there’s nothing that would stop you from building it. Then, I’d suggest working with a reputable contractor who has experience with these kinds of unique structures.
