A greenhouse can be a garden's greatest asset: its nucleus and powerhouse. There are many ways of using it and a gardener can adopt one or all of them. In spring, you can start young plants from seed; raise tender perennials to fill gaps in the garden; give young vegetable plants a head start; sow early lettuce while the soil is too sticky to work outdoors. During spring and summer, you can raise greenhouse crops like tomatoes, cucumbers, aubergines and chillis. You'll be able to overwinter tender plants such as bananas and cannas. And the greenhouse can be a showcase full of beautiful, unusual and exotic plants. Trained at Kew and for many years Glasshouse Supervisor at the RHS Garden at Wisley, Anne Swithinbank is the expert on greenhouse gardening, and in this book she comprehensively describes the techniques that will allow you to greatly expand the growing capabilities of your garden.
“Anyone purchasing a greenhouse should read this book first.” —Home Greenhouse Magazine Do you want homegrown tomatoes in the dead of winter? Or to grow succulents and cacti in the coldest parts of the world? All you need is a greenhouse. In The Greenhouse Gardener's Manual, Roger Marshall shares the secrets of successfully growing vegetables, fruits, flowers, and houseplants in a well-maintained greenhouse. You’ll learn how to choose the right design, create a healthy environment, use the space for propagation, and maintain the greenhouse year-round. Marshall also includes a plant directory of the 70 best fruits and vegetables and the 88 best ornamental plants for growing in a greenhouse.
"Greenhouse Gardening" is for anyone who wants to get the most out of their greenhouse. Whether you want to extend your growing season, grow unusual plants or protect your valued plants from frost, learn all about greenhouses.
The director of Cheyenne Botanic Gardens and author of The Bountiful Solar Greenhouse has produced a practical, comprehensive guide to making the most of any greenhouse or garden room. Addressing almost every aspect except the actual construction, Smith covers the greenhouse environment (light, humidity, temperature), interior design (plant placement, fans, drainage), individual plants and their propagation, pollination, growth, and scheduling for flower or fruit production. There are chapters on problems, diseases, and insects, and lists of associations, mail-order suppliers, and sun averages during the year across the country. As a Wyoming gardener, he puts a good deal of emphasis on using the greenhouse in summer as well as in winter, but this is a useful, practical guide for readers in most of the continental United States.
With a revolutionary new "Climate Battery" design for near-net-zero heating and cooling By the turn of the nineteenth century, thousands of acres of glass houses surrounded large American cities, becoming a commonplace symbol of the market garden and nursery trades. But the possibilities of the indoor garden to transform our homes and our lives remain largely unrealized. In this groundbreaking book, Jerome Osentowski, one of North America's most accomplished permaculture designers, presents a wholly new approach to a very old horticultural subject. In The Forest Garden Greenhouse, he shows how bringing the forest garden indoors is not only possible, but doable on unlikely terrain and in cold climates, using near-net-zero technology. Different from other books on greenhouse design and management, this book advocates for an indoor agriculture using permaculture design concepts--integration, multi-functions, perennials, and polycultures--that take season extension into new and important territory. Osentowski, director and founder of Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute (CRMPI), farms at 7,200 feet on a steep, rocky hillside in Colorado, incorporating deep, holistic permaculture design with practical common sense. It is at this site, high on a mountaintop, where Osentowski (along with architect and design partner Michael Thompson) has been designing and building revolutionary greenhouses that utilize passive and active solar technology via what they call the "climate battery"--a subterranean air-circulation system that takes the hot, moist, ambient air from the greenhouse during the day, stores it in the soil, and discharges it at night--that can offer tropical and Mediterranean climates at similarly high altitudes and in cold climates (and everywhere else). Osentowski's greenhouse designs, which can range from the backyard homesteader to commercial greenhouses, are completely ecological and use a simple design that traps hot and cold air and regulates it for best possible use. The book is part case study of the amazing greenhouses at CRMPI and part how-to primer for anyone interested in a more integrated model for growing food and medicine in a greenhouse. With detailed design drawings, photos, and profiles of successful greenhouse projects on all scales, this inspirational manual will considerably change the conversation about greenhouse design.
“A garden should be easy and fun to care for—don’t complicate things unnecessarily.” This is the slogan of author Inger Palmstierna. In Greenhouse Vegetable Gardening, she helps readers find the joy of cultivating in their very own greenhouses. Palmstierna is a gardening authority with vast knowledge on everything that grows. With infectious enthusiasm, this garden writer and horticulturist explains how to cultivate a successful garden or orchard. The greenhouse is the place where green thumbs are realized and your imagination can run wild. Palmstierna believes: “The greenhouse provides opportunities, but does not demand.” Greenhouse Vegetable Gardening is an accessible book with many beautiful pictures and practical instructions. The topics covered include: • Building and decorating your own greenhouse • Training seedlings and early plant development • How to sow, grow, and winter plants • How to harvest vegetables and herbs • How to cultivate summer flowers for planting • And more! In addition to providing a garden year-round, the greenhouse can also be a beautiful addition to your yard and can be customized to match your tastes. You’ll learn the basics on what to consider when buying, laying the foundations for, and decorating your greenhouse—as well as how to plan and use one. Soon after you’ll be ready to explore the many types of vegetables and flowering plants that thrive in greenhouses. So get ready to enjoy fresh vegetables and flowers year-round!
Covering all aspects of greenhouse management, this book provides guidance on the cultivation and care of greenhouse plants. It includes a guide to identification and control of pests, diseases and disorders, and is intended for keen amateur gardeners, horticultural students and nurserymen.
