If gardening is your hobby, you'll love having a greenhouse in your home premises. Simply put, greenhouses are covered shelters that provide an environment that is conducive to the growth of certain types of plants that cannot survive in the natural conditions of that region. When you set about shopping for domestic greenhouses in Perth, you are going to be encountered with lots of choices. Check out some of the types of domestic greenhouses.

Attached and freestanding greenhouses

Based on the structure of greenhouse, they are of two types - freestanding and attached. As the name indicates, attached greenhouses lean on another strong structure for support. Domestic attached greenhouses are built to lean on a wall of your home. Freestanding greenhouses are not attached. They are strong and can carry their own weight. They can be built anywhere in your garden, front yard or backyard.

The main advantage of attached greenhouses is that they are cost effective. Not only is it cheaper to built the external structure of these greenhouses, but also simpler to install water and electrical systems since you can draw these connections from your home. The main disadvantage of these greenhouses is the limitation on their size. You cannot have a large attached greenhouse because it might affect the structural stability of your home. Another limitation is that the greenhouse does not receive adequate sunlight throughout the day because shadow of the house falls on it depending on the orientation of the sun and location of the greenhouse.

Freestanding greenhouses require greater initial investment. You need to install separate water and electrical lines for them. The heating and cooling costs for these structures are higher as well. Since they are exposed to sunlight from all sides, heat loss is more. The good thing is that once built and equipped with all the required facilities, freestanding greenhouses are more functional. For one, you can expand them if you feel the need for a bigger greenhouse in the future. Also, you get a lot of flexibility in terms of the size and shape of the structure.

Types of greenhouses based on shape

Depending on their shape, domestic greenhouses are of different types such as A-frame, hoop house, gothic frame and arch type. The most common shape is hoop house. These have vertical walls and a roof sloping on to them from a center roof spine.

Gothic arch greenhouses are perfect for places that experience a lot of snow or rain. Since the roofs of these greenhouses are done in the shape of a hyperbolic arc, water and snow slide off the roof more easily than in hoop houses.

For regions that experience high precipitation, A frame greenhouses is also a very good choice. The A frame greenhouses do not have vertical walls. From a center roof spine, trusses slope all the way to the ground. The disadvantage of an A frame greenhouse is that the usable area is lower because of lack of headspace around the edges.

Whatever the kind of greenhouse you install at home, make sure that important elements such as watering systems, drainage, heating and cooling systems, and ventilation are efficiently installed.