A greenhouse is the most effective way to keep your garden growing no matter the season. It will keep your plants or seedlings warmer than they would be outside, and allow you to grow plants out of season or just get a head start in the spring.

Start Seeds or Grow Plants

You can use your greenhouse as you like. You can focus mostly on starting seeds for early planting as their usual season comes around, giving them a longer growing period outdoors. Or you can keep the plants in the greenhouse the entire time, and grow them when you choose.

Climate Control

The ability to control the climate inside a greenhouse is a major advantage. The glass or polycarbonate windows allow light and heat inside the greenhouse. Attic vents, fans and the door allow you to get rid of excess heat if it's too warm inside. This allows you to compensate both for the heat of summer and the cold of winter.

You can place a shade cloth over the greenhouse if the summer sun is getting to be too much for your plants, or if you need to create a shady spot for those that prefer partial shade.

You can run electricity out to a greenhouse and heat your plants beyond what the greenhouse holds on its own in winter.

Greenhouses are usually more humid than the outside air, due to evaporation from the soil and the plants you're growing. The advantage to this is that it means future evaporation is decreased, so you may save on water. However, it is important to allow excess humidity to escape, as too much can be a problem.

Protection from Pests

Plants grown in a greenhouse have more protection from many common pests. You won't have to worry about gophers eating the roots of young plants when they're growing in pots in a greenhouse.

Your plants are also less accessible to bugs. Bugs may still get inside your greenhouse, but they have fewer chances to get in, and so you should have fewer of them.

This is a big advantage for organic gardening. The decrease in pests means less reason to worry about pest control, which gives organic methods of controlling any pests that do make it in a better chance of working.

Fewer Weeds

Just as bugs are mostly kept out, your greenhouse also keeps most weed seeds away from your plants. You won't have to spend as much time getting rid of young weeds.

Higher Productivity

You may be able to have multiple harvests a year when you grow vegetables in a greenhouse. The controlled climate allows you to start plants when you want them, rather than waiting for the right season. Scatter your plantings, and you can enjoy fresh produce more or less all year.