Greenhouse Benches And Shelving

Greenhouse benches and shelves are an absolute necessity for any greenhouse as the gardener wants to maximize the space usage of the greenhouse. So once one has got the greenhouse or is getting one or constructing one. Plans should be in place of the shelves and benches that one would need to put in. It is like when one is getting a new house one mentally plans how to furnish it. Planning the benches and shelving also depends on the variety of the plants that one is going to grow in the greenhouse. The amount of sunlight and moisture each requires has also to be taken into consideration. Another point here is the height the plants will grow to in the greenhouse.

Benches can be used for two purposes one is for placing the flower pots and the other would be for using as a work bench for potting. Of course the bench one plans to use for potting should be sufficient in length and breath but should also not take up too much space. Benches can be single or multi tier. The multi tier bench is useful for flower pots which are not going to grow too much during the winters. Benches can be made of wood, PVC or metal and can be lightweight or heavy. It all depends on the material of which the benches are made. One must remember that these are going to be placed in an environment which is going to be humid and there will be soil and water falling on them. So they should be corrosive resistant. PVC benches are very durable and light weight and if one were to go with wooden benches they would require regular painting so that the wood work does not rot. The ground on which these benches are going to be placed is at times going to definitely be wet and the water will seep into the wood causing the wood to swell and become supple. If one wants to get wooden shelves as they do give a warm look to the greenhouse and blend in with the atmosphere of the greenhouse make sure that the bottom portion of the legs are of a rust resistant metal. Now another point about benches would be that if they are fairly large in size it would be a good idea to get benches that are on wheels. These benches can be easily moved around the greenhouse.

To maximize on the space in the greenhouse one would require shelves also. Again the shelves can be straight forward wooden planks that are placed on mountings of the greenhouse or shelves that come with adjustable racks. Getting shelves with adjustable racks gives the gardener the freedom of moving the shelves to the desired heights and is not cramped for space. With fixed shelves one may realize that the plants have grown more then the space between shelves which can be quite frustrating. So it is preferred that one should get racks in which the shelves can be adjusted. Remember the plants that you grow in the greenhouse this season may not be the plants that you may be planting or nurturing in the following year. So it would be a sheer waste getting fixed shelves and finding that with a change of plants they have become useless.

Shelves like benches are a choice of the gardener. What one has to remember that there is a large variety of plastic benches available which are virtually maintenance free. The only negative point is that these cannot take too much weight and the weight of earthen flower pots can be quite a bit once they are filled with soil.

Benches with heating systems are also available and it really depends if they are required for the greenhouse. Of course such benches do have thermostats for temperature control.

Benches and shelves for a greenhouse do require planning for the immediate season and for the seasons to follow.