Greenhouse ideas: From Victorian glasshouses to compact options for small gardens
For the enthusiastic gardener, a greenhouse is a must-have, enabling you to take care of your tender plants in the winter and sow seeds in the early spring. Their history in the UK stretches back to the 16th century, when orangeries became popular for sheltering citrus plants from Spain, but glasshouses truly took off in the 19th century once industrial advances made it much cheaper to produce glass. No longer was the ability to grow (then) exotic fruits and plants restricted to the rich – suddenly, any member of the middle class with the space could recreate balmy climes in their back garden.
The Victorian period saw the golden age of the glasshouse (picture the botanical houses at Kew Gardens or the monumental Crystal Palace, which tragically burned down in the 1930s but is immortalised in photos from the era); many of the loveliest designs on the market these days hark back to Victorian originals. A restored Victorian greenhouse makes for quite a special and characterful addition to your garden. There is a huge range of options out there, starting with affordable, ready-made options that you can buy and assemble on a pre-prepared concrete base, to bespoke greenhouses that can cost tens of thousands of pounds and which will perfectly dovetail with the space you have in your garden.
And speaking of space, even if you have a small garden, chances are you can find space for a greenhouse; they come in sizes from just six feet wide, although eight feet is better if you want to put worktops on both sides. Traditional greenhouses are rectangular in shape, but you can also buy lean-to versions that can be situated against a wall, or charming octagonal shapes that might fit better into a tricky space. Generally, greenhouses are made from timber or aluminium; the former is more expensive but better at retaining heat, and can also be accompanied by a half-wall in brick at the base.
The glazing of the greenhouse also determines its price and functionality. Horticultural glass is the cheapest available; it’s 3mm thick and arranged in overlapping patterns, but it’s hard to clean and when it breaks, forms large, dangerous shards. Toughened glass is more expensive but safer. You can also buy greenhouses with polycarbonate panels instead of glass – this is cheaper and lighter, and doesn’t break, but doesn't have the same aesthetic appeal of glass panes and it can pop out in strong winds.
You’ll also want to make sure your greenhouse has ventilation panes, as they can easily overheat in summer. Typically you’ll find ridged ventilation panes in the walls or door, or the roof should come with panes that open manually or automatically.
When siting your greenhouse, it’s traditional to orient the ridge east-west, maximising the amount of light you get in winter, though this is not essential. If you live in a garden where strong winds prevail, make sure the gable end of the greenhouse (the strongest part) faces the wind. Stay away from sloping ground when positioning your greenhouse, and also keep clear of overhanging trees.
Buying a greenhouse
The greenhouses we feature on our pages are some of the most beautiful in the world, and if you have the space and budget, it’s always best to go bespoke with one of the beautiful options made by Alitex, who make greenhouses for the National Trust, or Hartley Botanic, who partner with the RHS. For ready-made greenhouses, we love the range at Rhino Greenhouses, which start at around £1,000 and come in a brilliant range of sizes and colours. John Lewis’ small range of timber greenhouses, made with Crane Garden buildings, is also very charming.
Greenhouse ideas from the House & Garden archive
Eva Nemeth1/19A curved, mown-grass path leads to the orchard meadow in Mary Keen's joyful Gloucestershire garden, between beds of eye-catching, self-sown lime Euphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii, mauve Lunaria annua ‘Corfu Blue’ and purple flag irises. An inherited Magnolia x soulangeana draws the eye beyond the walk-through greenhouse.
Eva Nemeth2/19As trays of ladybird poppies are lined up in the greenhouse and sky blue camassias lie in wait under the long grass, the visitor to Mary’s spring garden will leave having fallen in love again with 100 plants. Her sense of excitement at the intensity of each season, the nuance of every scent and the colour of every petal is unstoppable and infectious.
Dean Hearne3/19A greenhouse was essential and, rather than hiding it away, garden designer Milan Hajsinek wanted it to be a strong feature in Cordelia de Castellane's French garden. ‘I like to put a greenhouse in the middle of a garden – I view it as a church,’ he explains. Painted a pale blue-green (the colour of Cordelia’s former childrenswear brand CdeC), the greenhouse draws the eye from every corner of the garden. A quadrangle of beds overflow with a sumptuous mix of peonies, lupins, foxgloves, phlox, larkspur, valerian and other cottage-garden favourites, which mingle in a charming, unpremeditated way. ‘I favour a natural look. It’s the same inside the house,’ says Cordelia. ‘I don’t want things to look brand new. I like to respect the DNA of a place, whether it’s the house or the garden.’ To ensure she has a never-ending supply to arrange, Cordelia has made more beds for cut flowers behind the greenhouse and recently cleared an entire meadow so she can now grow her beloved tulips and dahlias, as well as cosmos, delphiniums and peonies.
CHRIS EVERARD4/19In White Company founder Chrissie Rucker’s garden, a grand, traditional greenhouse sits at the end of a box-lined path of Allium stipitatum ‘Mount Everest’ and clouds of Hesperis matronalis var. albiflora. The clipped balls are Buxus sempervirens ‘Variegata’. Inside, Chrissie grows tomatoes and sweet chillis.
Eva Nemeth5/19Behind her house in Oxford, garden designer Laura Heybrook has created a plant lover’s paradise, filled with colourful scented flowers and grasses against a backdrop of evergreens and topiary. A tangle of plants, includingVerbena bonariensis, Stachys byzantina, Stipa tenuissima and Kniphofia ‘Green Jade’, crowds the path that leads to the bespoke greenhouse, made by a local joiner.
Richard Bloom6/19A delightful greenhouse has been created in this extension of the gardener's house at Hermannshof. A public display and trial garden in the Rhine Valley. In front of the house, Primroses, wallflowers and white forget-me-nots contrast with orange tones of ‘Disneyland Paris’, ‘Ballerina’ and ‘Hermitage’, dark red ‘Ronaldo’, ‘National Velvet’, ‘Havran’ and ‘Slawa’, and creamy-white ‘Cheers’.
Eva Nemeth7/19The garden of an Oxfordshire manor house has been reinvigorated over many years by the designer Arne Maynard, with bold, distinctive new elements set against the existing framework. The kitchen garden was the first area that Arne restored, to encourage the family to get out into the garden together. Box hedges delineate the restored original layout. The greenhouse has a smart brick base and a timber frame - find something similar at Hartley Botanic.
Andrew Montgomery8/19Jasper Conran has established a new kitchen garden behind what was originally the carriage house for his 17th-century manor house in Dorset. An oak-framed conservatory houses a collection of pelargoniums and other tender plants.
Andrew Montgomery9/19In garden designer Sarah Price's kitchen garden, she is restoring the old glasshouses and the gravel paths with their stone edging. She plans a mixture of vegetables and annuals here, inspired by the gardens of Priona in Holland.
Ngoc Minh Ngo10/19This generous greenhouse in a sustainable Devon garden designed by Dan Pearson is large enough to double up as an office space. For a substantial greenhouse like this, a bespoke option by Alitex, who design greenhouses for the National Trust might be the best bet.
Eva Nemeth11/19The restored Victorian glasshouse on the Backhouse Rossie estate in Fife is surrounded by Daffodils such as the white-petalled ‘Sunrise’ grow around the mown-grass labyrinth.
Michael Sinclair12/19This Glasshouse in Keith Johnson and Glen Senk's Wiltshire Garden is built onto one of the walls of the kitchen garden.
Eva Nemeth13/19The three-quarter-span greenhouse in this Devon garden designed by Arne Maynard is used for raising seedlings, and housing tomatoes and other tender plants.
Eva Nemeth14/19Writer Daisy Garnett’s greenhouse was built on a shoestring budget while her South London house was being renovated; she raises all her seed-grown annuals here.
Eva Nemeth15/19Laura grows tomatoes and tender plants in the greenhouse.
16/19In our garden editor Clare Foster’s garden, the greenhouse sits in a small kitchen garden at the back, alongside raised beds for growing vegetables. If you want a relatively compact greenhouse like this, John Lewis have partnered with Crane Garden Buildings to create some ready-made options that can be laid on a pre-prepared base.
Michael Sinclair17/19The greenery seamlessly flows from the garden into the modern dome-shaped greenhouse in the magical garden of Charles Rutherfoord's elegant London home. The dome has shelving where seedlings, succulents and subtropicals grow. The 'Pod' glass-dome greenhouse is from Solardome and costs from £8,394.
Alexander James18/19After moving from London to Wiltshire, Ed and Polly Nicholson brought their Georgian house to life with eclectic art, antiques and an abundance of flowers from their cutting garden, from which Polly now runs a floristry business, Bayntun Flowers. In a greenhouse in the walled garden, Polly propagates flowers and grows vegetables. The greenhouse features brick raised beds, decorative grates in the floor, and heaters suspended from the ceiling for extra warmth in cold weather.
19/19Dan Pearson commissioned Alitex to make this dual-purpose glasshouse in Devon. The room at the end is used as a potting shed and for a summer pelargonium display; the nearer room is for entertaining.
