Your greenhouse SEASON BY SEASON
SUMMER
● Sow edibles, such as calabrese, salad leaves, French beans and parsley.
● Sow biennials, such as angelica, sweet William and foxgloves.
● Plant greenhouse-raised young plants outside.
● Prune fan-trained peaches and nectarines.
AUTUMN
● Sow edibles (such as carrots, salad leaves and turnips) and hardy annuals (such as cornflowers and sweet peas).
● Plant hippeastrum (amaryllis) bulbs and spring-flowering bulbs (such as tulips).
● Bring tender plants in for protection before the frosts.
● Insulate when the weather cools by attaching Uv-stabilised bubble insulation to the interior walls, by rolling shade blinds down before dark, or by wrapping horticultural fleece around tender plants.
● Clean the greenhouse on a dry, sunny day. Take as much as possible outside, then turn off the power and cover sockets. Wipe down outside windows first, before cleaning inside. Apply wood preservative, if necessary. Remove dead leaves and slugs from pot plants, and – if need be – remove the top layer of compost and re-dress with a fresh layer, before bringing everything back in.
● Discard diseased plants.
WINTER
● Sow edibles (such as lettuce, aubergines, French beans, beetroot, carrots, peas and radishes) in late winter, as well as sweet peas.
● Plant seed potatoes for harvesting new potatoes in spring, and lily bulbs in pots.
● Prune grapes.
● Dig the soil of empty greenhouse borders and replenish with compost.
SPRING
● Sow a wide variety of edibles and ornamental annuals for indoor and outdoor growing during early and mid-spring: from courgettes and tomatoes to cosmos and cleome.
● Plant dahlias and cannas in pots.
● Take young greenhouse-raised plants outside for planting in late spring, including brassicas.
● Pollinate nectarines and peaches by hand.
● Clean the greenhouse in early spring, if you didn’t do it in autumn. (Ideally, autumn is the optimum time to clean your greenhouse as it removes any build-up of pests and diseases before winter, as well as shade paint, if you use it).