What Factors Do I Need to Consider When Choosing a Greenhouse?

Buying a greenhouse is a really smart move for a number of reasons. Firstly, a greenhouse’s controlled growing environment minimises the risk of pests and extreme weather conditions damaging your plants, so you can achieve greater levels of success for your gardening endeavours.

Secondly, greenhouses allow you to grow a wider range of plants, throughout the changing seasons, so you can fully indulge your love of gardening the whole year round. Finally, should you choose to grow fruit and veg in your greenhouse, you’ll get to enjoy regular crops of healthier, tastier produce than you will ever find in the supermarkets, while dramatically reducing your grocery bills.

So, as buying a greenhouse is such a ‘no brainer’, the only real question is which type of greenhouse you should buy?

Key Considerations When Choosing a Greenhouse

The main factors to weigh up when choosing the right greenhouse are size, style, framing material and glazing. There are a few other things to consider too, which we’ll come to in due course.

What Is the Best Size of Greenhouse?

6x8 greenhouses are most manufacturers’ bestselling models, but your own decision should be based on how much space you have available in your garden, what you intend to grow, and your level of expertise.

For example, if you’re new to greenhouse gardening, and just want to ‘dip your toe in the water’, it’s probably wise to focus your attention on a relatively small number of plants and opt for a cheap mini greenhouse. On the other side of the coin, if you’re already a green-fingered expert and have more ambitious, concrete plans, you’ll want to choose a larger, more luxurious model.

In terms of smaller greenhouses for sale, here’s one our favourites…

4' x 4' Palram Canopia Plant Inn Raised Bed Small Mini Greenhouse (1.18m x 1.18m)

Small in size but big on quality, this mini greenhouse is built from polycarbonate panels on an aluminium frame and galvanised-steel perimeter base, making it robust, weathertight and completely maintenance free.

Two adjustable lids offer you complete access to the whole growing area, while an integral garden storage compartment provides plenty of space for your tools, compost and gardening knickknacks.

Other key features include 2 x 6.5-inch-deep raised beds/ planters, 10 x plant hangers, and an internal water drainage system – in short, everything you need to create the perfect environment for your plants to prosper.

Different Styles of Greenhouse

Generally speaking, a greenhouse’s style is determined by its roof, and the main choice here is between apex and lean-to models.

Traditional apex roof designs feature 2 slopes that meet at a ridge (the apex) in the middle of the greenhouse, while lean-to greenhouse roofs consist of just one slope, the high point of which is designed to sit against a wall or fence.

Because of their compact, space-saving designs, lean-to greenhouses are generally favoured by people with smaller outside areas. Here’s one of our bestsellers…

8' x 4' Palram Canopia Hybrid Silver Lean To Wall Walk In Greenhouse (2.4m x 1.22m)

Supported by an aluminium frame and galvanised-steel perimeter base, this lean-to greenhouse features twin-wall polycarbonate roof panels and crystal-clear polycarbonate side panels, which are both UV protected and completely shatterproof.

The large side door offers you walk-in access to the interior, and can be secured by padlock to keep your valuable hand tools safe, while a manually-opened roof vent helps regulate the temperature inside the greenhouse to benefit your plants.

Other notable features include an integral guttering system, wall-mounting kit and impressive 5-year warranty.

Greenhouse Framing

The 2 most popular choices of greenhouse framing are wood and aluminium.

All of our pressure-treated wooden greenhouses are made by Forest, who are the nation’s leading manufacturer of wooden garden buildings. Constructed from robust, durable, maintenance-free timber, and with a choice of glazing options, these glasshouses boast attractive traditional designs, which ooze rustic charm.

Globally-respected Palram Canopia supplies all of our aluminium greenhouses for sale. Usually matched with polycarbonate glazing, these high-spec greenhouses are intelligently designed and offer exceptional value for money.

Both pressure-treated wood and aluminium make excellent greenhouse frames, so choice is really just a matter of personal taste. However, it’s fair to say that wooden greenhouses are more aesthetically suited to a wider range of gardens.

3' x 4' Forest Victorian Walkaround Greenhouse with Auto Vent (0.9m x 1.2m)

Equally at home on a newbuild property’s patio as it is in a cottage-style garden, this wooden greenhouse is designed with no less than 4 doors, so you can gain exceptionally easy access to your plants, from any direction.

The greenhouse’s removable slatted staging can be installed at just the right height to pot, nurture and display your plants, while the automatic vent helps optimise growing conditions, even when you’re not around.

Constructed from ethically-sourced, pressure-treated timber and shatterproof styrene glazing, this small but eye-catching wooden greenhouse comes with a fabulous 15-year anti-rot guarantee and is completely maintenance free.

A Choice of Greenhouse Glazing

The cheapest types of greenhouse glazing are horticultural glass and styrene. Of the two, our preference is for the latter because it is light in weight and shatterproof.

The midmarket option is acrylic, which allows better quality natural light into the greenhouse than styrene, as well as being more resistant to scratches, abrasions, and general wear and tear.

At the top of the pecking order come polycarbonate and toughened glass, which both tend to be found on more luxurious models.

The former is often used on aluminium-framed greenhouses, and will either be twinwall, crystal clear or a combination of the two. The purpose of twinwall polycarbonate is to diffuse extreme sunlight, promoting an even temperature inside the greenhouse to benefit your plants. As the name suggests, crystal-clear polycarbonate has higher levels of light transmission, making it similar in nature to real glass. Both forms of polycarbonate glazing have the benefit of being UV protected and shatterproof.

Toughened safety glass is virtually unbreakable too, and is the glazing of choice on Forest’s outstanding range of Vale greenhouses.

10' x 8' Forest Vale Modular Wooden Greenhouse (3.26m x 2.56m) - Installation Included

Made in Britain and backed by a 15-year guarantee, this wooden glasshouse is built from top-of-the-range tongue & groove cladding and 4mm toughened safety glass. The former is renowned for its strength, style and weathertight seal, while the latter is much stronger than standard greenhouse glazing, so perfectly suited to a busy, family-orientated garden.

Everything about this 8x6 greenhouse oozes class. Two full-length spans of greenhouse staging are included as standard, offering you plenty of room to display and care for your plants, while the automatic vent helps optimise growing conditions inside the greenhouse.

And with Forest’s professional installation service included in the price, the only thing you need to worry about is what to grow first.

Other Key Greenhouse Features

As you can see from some of the greenhouses we’ve highlighted above, vents are an invaluable feature on any greenhouse because they help regulate the temperature to benefit your plants. Automatic vents are best of all because they open and close by themselves once certain temperatures are reached, so you can rest assured that your plants will enjoy optimised growing conditions, even when you’re not around.

Greenhouse shelving/ staging is also a must. Not only does it make a suitable workspace to pot and care for your plants, it increases the surface area on which you can grow/ display them too.

Other than these features, your main consideration when choosing a suitable greenhouse should be the door. Will you be able to fit everything you need through a single door or would you be better off with double doors? And, particularly if you have mobility issues, do you need a door with a low threshold? Only you can answer these questions, but they’re important things to bear in mind.

Shop Our Great Range of Greenhouses for Sale Now!

We stock greenhouses in all the popular designs and sizes, with wooden and aluminium frames, the full range of glazing options, and some really smart features to cater for your exact greenhouse gardening requirements. Best of all, in true B&M fashion, we bring all of them to you at prices you can afford.

So, whatever type of greenhouse you decide upon, you’ll find some wonderful options to choose from amongst our great range of greenhouses for sale.

Don't forget you can get free delivery* and pick your delivery date!

What will you be growing in your greenhouse? We'd love to see how your new greenhouse is helping all kinds of plants, fruit and veg flourish. Share your photos with the B&M Community on Facebook, X & Instagram.

*Please note that there are delivery surcharges for a few remote postcodes. T&Cs apply.