Orientation

I'm not sure which direction is best to set up a greenhouse or tunnel here.
In the UK most people used an E to W orientation, but here it is much hotter in the summer. In fact it may not be possible to have any plants in there after June. So it will mainly be used for overwintering and starting seeds early in the spring. I have been advised that N to S is better here.

I'd be grateful for anyone's thoughts on this, thanks

I live in hotterthanhell Texas. I can only use mine in winter and very early spring with venting..very much like you have in mind..........the reccomendation is for the longest area to face the south in the winter as the sun is lower in the sky then and no DIRECT heating sunlight would be able to come in on the north, or for that matter the east or west...........
jackie.

Thanks jackie, that's very helpful.
I had been thinking perhaps I could get away with one house for everything, but I think I need one like that for the winter and then somewhere in shade for propogating in the summer months

Howdy philo....(Nice to see ya again)!

Is there anyway your g-house can double as a shade house for summer time? Here, in the summer, it's nearly impossible to work in our g-house due to the high temps in there. (Even with shade cloth over the plastic, two big exhaust fans and five intake louvers it still is unbearable in there during those warm months.)

I'm hoping to put up a second greenhouse (we need the extra space) and will put g-house plastice over it for the winter months, using it to winter over certain plants. In the summer we'll take the plastic off and put shade cloth over the framework, giving us an open air shade house for propagation and protection from the sun for many of the potted plants.

If you decide to put up a more solid structure (glass, plexiglass, etc) then perhaps in the warm months you can whitewash the panes, reducing the heat level a bit and then be able to use it for propagation, eh?

Hope you are now firmly settled in and enjoying your place! Happy Gardening!
Shoe.

Hi Shoe good to see you too :)

I think I shall probably go down the road of two smaller houses rather than one big one. One with plastic 'glass' and one a tunnel with just shade cloth. As I need to call on someone to help with things as little as possible, I'll avoid the changing the covering option, though I think it's a good one.

Thanks, yes, I love it here and am beginning to get a little more organised ;)
I've now got a Honda tiller to help me break the new ground and am planting lots of fruit and veggies, some of which I'd hardly heard of before, let alone had any chance of growing...
Life is good :oD

Hope all is very well with you and yours
Hilary

How cool! Sounds like you're on your way! Yay!

I can see it now.... veggies, flowers, fruit (figs, peaches, blackberries, kiwi).

Glad you are enjoying it all. Keep a diary! It'll be fun!

You're right about the diary. I intended to keep one for wildlife etc from when I first arrived - but as with so many good intentions it fell by the wayside. Now I'm starting to settle more I really ought to do it!

Fruit so far (a lot were already here) apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums, cherries, apples, pears, quince (delicious and such an enormous crop!), redcurrant, raspberries, persimmon (called kaki here - not nearly so romantic sounding), strawberries and kiwi.
A friend has offered me passion fruit suckers too. Apparently they grow so rampantly here that they need to go next to a lawn so they don't take over (can be mown down). In England they were a rarity and to be nurtured lol