Making the Most of Your Greenhouse in Winter

If you are a beginner to gardening, then winter can feel like the time to just leave the garden be and let it do its own thing. It can be muddy, frosty, and cold, so why not just leave it until the springtime? However, if you want to really take care of the garden and make sure that your plants, trees, shrubs, and flowers are taken care of, then it will still need some tender loving care in winter.

If you have a greenhouse, then it can be a big help over the winter months. You shouldn’t leave it empty as it offers a lot of protection to any tender plants or shrubs that you are growing, as it keeps away the frost. Having the space to grow and keep plants protected, means that you can carry on ‘growing your own,’ even in the winter, making sure that herbs and crops like salads are growing all winter too. A good way to keep your family healthy and reduce your food bill at the same time. 

If you have a greenhouse that is unheated, then it can still keep a fairly mild temperature overnight, making it much warmer for plants and crops than they would be if they were out there facing the frost. So you don’t need to think about heating it necessarily, as it will still offer more protection than anything left exposed to the elements in the garden. Plus, as a greenhouse will keep the plants dry, they will be much less likely to freeze. When plants get cold and wet, that is often the death knell for them, meaning that they might not even grow back in the spring and summer.

One of the main considerations when it comes to using a greenhouse and being able to make the most of it in the winter, is ensuring that your plants get plenty of light. This can be hard when daylight is at a premium in winter as it is. But if you take steps to make sure that there aren’t things blocking the windows and that the glass is kept clean then it can definitely help.

The best things to grow in winter

Winter salads

One of the best things that you can grow in winter is salad leaves, believe it or not. Some salad leaf crops are hardier than others, such as lettuce, but crops like rocket, spinach, and pak choi can work well too. In your greenhouse, plant them in trays or pots with compost, and then move them to larger containers as they start to grow. 

Herbs

If you want to plant herbs, then don’t be put off by the cold weather, as they can still grow well, especially in a greenhouse. Some of the hardiest herbs for winter are mint, parsley, and chives which can grow well outdoors when the weather is milder, and be bright indoors when the cooler temperatures start to hit. If you plant a few pots of each, then you will have plenty to go around for all of your festive cooking.

Perennials

You might think that perennials are just for the summer to have in your flower beds and borders, but they can be prepared and made ready in the winter. So think of perennials like fuchsias, pelargoniums, and marguerites that can all work well. By keeping them safe and protected in a greenhouse over winter, will ensure that they last and last and survive any frost. Just remember that they don’t need to be overwatered; they are used to being around a lot of heat so don’t need too much watering.

Rhubarb

If you are planting rhubarb in your garden, then don’t let it go to waste in the winter months. You can simply lift up the rhubarb plant and leave it on some surface soil. They are a pretty hardy crop and although it can survive a little frost, bringing it into a greenhouse will make sure that it keeps going and going and will be ready for the next rhubarb season.

Spring bulbs

Why not make the most of the festive season and start to think about getting ready for the spring in your garden? By potting spring bulbs like daffodils, hyacinths, and tulips already, then it can help them to plant well and can even encourage some early blooms. When you start to see some buds appear in the plant pots, you can then take them indoors to your home to enjoy; the smell of a hyacinth is incredible. 

​​Peaches

Commonly associated with summer, you can actually get started with stone fruit like peaches and nectarines. Peaches can be prone to getting a kind of fungus on them, called peach leaf curl fungus, so you need to take extra care with them to make sure that this is avoided. By taking peach plants into a greenhouse you will be giving them more of a fighting chance of survival and being disease-free. They are best to be grown undercover, whether that is in a greenhouse or not, until late March. 

Alpine plants

Alpine plants are pretty hardy plants, but they can thrive best when protected from wet weather, which there can be an abundance of in the winter months. When they get too wet, it can spoil the flower and also lead to rotting, meaning that they won’t grow back again. If you have Alpine plants in your garden already, then bring them indoors for the winter period, which could be in your home or a greenhouse. When they start to flower again, then they can be moved outdoors again. 

These are just a few examples of the things that you can still keep growing and looking after in your garden and greenhouse over the winter months. If you don’t keep on top of what has been planted in your garden already, then you will have a big job on your hands once the spring and warmer weather starts to come around. 

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