Shading Your Greenhouse

Shading a greenhouse with natural or artificial devices (along with air movement and humidity) will allow you to keep inside temperatures at reasonable levels. Trees that shed leaves in winter provide excellent shade. Be careful, however, to position the greenhouse so that it does get proper amounts of light throughout the year and so it will not be in constant danger of falling limbs. Perennial vining plants, like bougainvillea and jasmine, positioned at the ends of a greenhouse make a practical and beautiful natural canopy of shade.

There are lots of shading devices: bamboo, aluminum and plastic slats, stick-on vinyl, screened panels and so on. Primary considerations when shopping for a shade device are ease of installation and removal, cost, durability and life expectancy and accuracy in providing the amount of shade desired.