Greenhouses have always been popular and not only help to protect and encourage certain types of plants to grow but they are also an ideal way for you to enjoy gardening all year round. The manufacture and design of greenhouses has also improved over the years and they’ve become much safer as a result.
Plastic Or Glass?
When it comes to choosing a greenhouse, there will be a few considerations you’ll need to bear in mind such as its size and how that will fit into the space you intend to put it. However, when it comes to safety, probably your main concern will be whether to choose plastic or glass. Naturally, plastic has its advantages in that regard as it is not brittle like glass and so is less likely to break if hit with an object, e.g. your child’s football. Nevertheless, it can get scratched more easily and becomes more translucent over time which can affect the amount of light it allows in which in turn can affect what you are trying to grow. If, therefore, you decide to opt for glass, your choices are between horticultural and toughened glass. The latter will cost more but is much better in that it shatters far more safely if it receives a severe impact in a similar fashion to a car windscreen. Naturally, this might be of great importance if you have kids who play in the garden as horticultural glass when smashed might throw out sharp shards of glass which could severely injure children and pets too, for that matter.
Working Safely Within The Greenhouse
You’d be surprised just how many people get injured in greenhouses and this is usually because of their own carelessness or the way they’ve set their greenhouse up. If you have high shelves, make sure that the highest ones only contain things which you won’t need a great deal of access to where you might require ladders. This is because one of the biggest causes of accidents in greenhouses is as a result of people falling off ladders. Therefore, try and set up your greenhouse so that the vast majority of the day to day tasks can be performed at ground level. And, if you do ever need to use ladders, make sure they are well maintained and that they are the correct size for the job and that you use them in the proper manner.
Situating Your Greenhouse
Obviously, you’ll want to situate your greenhouse in the best possible location within your garden for it to make the most use of the sun. However, if that means it’s going to be at the end of a garden and you’ll, perhaps, want to build a path to it, be sure that the path is well maintained so that you don’t trip over any loose pavestones and injure yourself. Also think about if you intend to work in your greenhouse at night when it’s dark. Taking a torch will avoid any nasty trips and these days, many gardeners use solar path lights on either side of which not only light up the way but are aesthetically pleasing to look at too. You might also want to bear in mind how far you’re going to situate it from a mains supply and, if that’s likely to be a fair distance from your house and if you’re going to use extension reel cables from your house, you need to take great care that you and others who may be using the garden do not trip over them as well as ensuring that the cable is kept maintained and is checked regularly for possible damage. Finally, also look above where you’re intending to put the greenhouse. You won’t want to put it underneath a large tree where branches can fall down onto it and shatter any glass.
By taking these types of precautions and considerations, however, a keen gardener can enjoy many hours of pleasure in a greenhouse and it makes gardening an activity which can be enjoyed all year round.
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