Greenhouses

For those with green fingers, a Greenhouse can be a revolution for your gardening. Getting rid of weather worries, a greenhouse gives you control over your growing conditions throughout the year with a sheltered interior that remains warm and gets filled by sunlight. A greenhouse extends the time you can grow during the year, and keeps your plants, flowers, vegetables - or whatever you choose to grow - safer than ever.

Whether you’re looking for a cold-frame greenhouse - or a more traditional metal model - our self-manufactured greenhouses are designed to give you growing freedom.

BillyOh Rosette Hobby Aluminium Polycarbonate Greenhouse

from £299

BillyOh Polycarbonate Lean-To Greenhouse

BillyOh 4000 Lincoln Wooden Clear Wall Greenhouse with Roof Vent
-18%

BillyOh 4000 Lincoln Wooden Clear Wall Greenhouse with Roof Vent

from £568 £700 SAVE UP TO £132
BillyOh 4000 Lincoln Wooden Polycarbonate Greenhouse with Roof Vent
-16%

BillyOh 4000 Lincoln Wooden Polycarbonate Greenhouse with Roof Vent

from £452 £539 SAVE UP TO £87

BillyOh Switch Apex Wooden Greenhouse

from £867
BillyOh 4000 Lincoln Wooden Polycarbonate Greenhouse
-14%

BillyOh 4000 Lincoln Wooden Polycarbonate Greenhouse

from £397 £465 SAVE UP TO £68
BillyOh Planthouse Tongue and Groove Pent Potting Shed
-33%

BillyOh Planthouse Tongue and Groove Pent Potting Shed

from £699 £1,049 SAVE UP TO £350
Greenhouse with Easy-Fit Frame and Heavy Duty Cover
-17%

Greenhouse with Easy-Fit Frame and Heavy Duty Cover

£26.40 £31.99 SAVE UP TO £5.59

What is a Greenhouse?

A Greenhouse is a garden building designed to provide a sheltered environment for growing and cultivating plants. The exterior of the structure is made from transparent materials, such as polycarbonate plastic, which lets in sunlight and traps heat indoors to create a controlled growing environment. A form of ventilation is usually built into the structure to allow air circulation and prevent build ups of hot air.

This environment allows plants to be grown and maintained for longer throughout the year, while eliminating the risk of environmental damage caused by strong winds or rain. Greenhouses themselves come in a variety of shapes and sizes, with different sizes, frames, and glazing materials available.

What Are the Main Types of Greenhouse?

At Garden Buildings Direct, we have three main Greenhouse types sorted by the materials they are made from. These categories are Wooden Greenhouses, Plastic Greenhouses, and Metal Greenhouses.

Our Wooden Greenhouses are constructed with strong timber tongue and groove panels that interlock perfectly to ensure protection from the elements for years on end.

All of our Metal Greenhouses use strong aluminium framing and rust-resistant galvanised steel bases to create a long-lasting structure.

With our Polycarbonate Greenhouses, we replace glass with safe and effective Polycarbonate panels that are glazed to spread light around your greenhouse and protect what you're growing!

How Do Greenhouses Work?

Greenhouses are simpler than they might seem. Their structures are effectively built as “traps” for both sunlight and heat. Trapping sunlight is beneficial for the plants as it is required for photosynthesis and therefore for their growth. Trapping heat is essential (at least in the UK) during the winter months when outside temperatures become increasingly cold, as the warm inside environment allows you to avoid the frosts so you can start growing earlier and for longer.

As well as trapping heat and light, their designs usually include a form of ventilation. This is essential in the summer to avoid over-trapping heat in the building and drying out the plants.

Do You Need Planning Permission for a Greenhouse?

No, none of our greenhouses require planning permission, provided it doesn’t take up more than 50% of the space in your garden and isn’t placed past your front wall. Planning rules dictate that a garden building, in this case a greenhouse, that buildings must conform to certain sizes, specifically:

  • Not being taller than 3m for a pent roof, or 4m for a dual pitch roof.
  • Not exceeding a max eaves height of 2.5m.

None of our greenhouse models have heights exceeding these rules, and so won’t require planning permission to be used in your garden.

This is largely dependent on what type of greenhouse you have/intend to purchase. The plastic glazing on our polycarbonate greenhouses allows them to last for an extended period of time, thanks to being stronger and more durable than glass in a glass greenhouse. A greenhouse which is well looked after and not exposed to exceptionally bad weather conditions all year round can be expected to last for a number of years.

Assuming your greenhouse is of a high quality - such as the ones sold here at Garden Buildings Direct - then you’ll be able to use it effectively for the vast majority of the calendar year, with the only anomaly being in periods of exceptionally cold weather. Heated greenhouses further allow for year-round use, but often aren’t cost effective. See how other customers have used their greenhouses year-round.

At Garden Buildings Direct we believe that wooden framed greenhouses with polycarbonate glazing offer the best all-round options. They:

  • Are sturdy and durable
  • Are competitively priced
  • Maintain a traditional aesthetic
  • Are safer than glass
  • Maintain ambient temperature well

If this is a question that has been playing on your mind the answer is probably yes. Even a small greenhouse can be a great space for people who love to garden but find kneeling for long periods, or being out in the cold, hard. Greenhouses are a relatively inexpensive way to create a year-round growing environment for plants, fruit, and vegetables and can be the starting point for a lifelong hobby.