Budget-friendly Greenhouse Ideas for Your Backyard

Those who love gardening can gain so much from making a greenhouse in their backyard. First of all, it allows you to prolong the gardening season both ways. You get to start seeds early and leave them a bit longer than you would be able to. Second, it helps create conditions for more exotic plants that you would otherwise be unable to grow in your backyard. Transplanting projects also become a lot easier and more dependable, which is a huge bonus on its own. Not to mention that it adds value to your backyard, seeing as how it’s an additional (functional) structure.

Glass or plastic

The first major decision you’ll face when considering greenhouse ideas for your backyard is the main material that you’ll use. Here, there are two most popular choices – glass and plastic. First of all, if we’re talking about budget-friendliness, it’s safe to assume that you’ll do the installation on your own. With that in mind, DIY work can become a lot simpler when you use plastic than when you work with glass. Glass is also less safe, seeing as how glass shattering and plastic ripping are simply incomparable (in terms of damage control). Overall, plastic tends to be superior in many different ways.

DIY

There are numerous benefits of handling your greenhouse on your own. First of all, you get to reclaim materials that you already have, which adds an additional layer of eco-friendliness to your project. By not hiring outside help, you also lower the carbon footprint. The production of the greenhouse in question is feeding an industry that is not necessarily green. So, this is one more way for you to make a difference. On top of this, you get a chance to make the project into something fun and challenging, not to mention the fact that you build your own fortune.

Pick the right location

The thing you need to keep in mind is that the position of your greenhouse may determine its effectiveness. This means that choosing poorly may persuade you that you made a mistake somewhere in the project, which will diminish all your hard work. There are several factors you need to keep in mind:

It needs an abundance of light

It shouldn’t be in the way (if possible)

Its orientation should be east-to-west

The ground beneath it needs to be leveled

As you can see, just picking the right spot isn’t enough. You also need to do some preparatory work, as well as ensure that the future layout of the backyard is convenient.

Plastic sheet

The use of plastic sheets is the simplest way to make your own greenhouse or a plastic bin. First of all, this allows you to shape your future greenhouse in any way you see fit. The duration of this plastic is 4-6 years even with moderate maintenance. Also keep in mind that the rest of the material will be quite similar, as well. After all, you’ll place it around PVC piping. When picking the type of plastics that you should go for, you should probably go for Perspex sheets.

Plastic bottles

Plastic bottles are probably one of the materials used in your household which are the most harmful to the environment. All you need to do is stack them together in order to turn them into a greenhouse. Now, keep in mind that bottles are not the only option you have here. For instance, you could use any other type of transparent plastic material, ranging from VHS tapes all the way to old children’s toys. While this might sound like… well, not that good of an idea from a visual standpoint, the truth is that the end result can be quite impressive.

Mini greenhouses

Another thing you need to keep in mind is the fact that you don’t have to go for a massive structure. Instead, you could make smaller, umbrella-like greenhouses to protect planters or individual raised beds on your property. In fact, you can use real see-through umbrellas for this task. All you need to do is place them around the property and get the desired effect. Overall, they’re easy to install, seeing as how they already have their structure. They are also easy to remove when you don’t need them, as well as compact for storage.

In conclusion

In the end, learning how to make a greenhouse in a budget-friendly manner is important for two reasons. If budget is an obstacle, learning these frugal methods would make this option plausible. Second, if you aim for the increase of resale value, the lower the cost, the higher the ROI.

Lastly, learning how to save money and do something with your own hands can be a great boost for your self-esteem. This is something that every homeowner needs to develop in order to successfully handle day-to-day tasks. If you’ve made it on your own, you can also fix and maintain it on your own.