Fully Shaded Greenhouse

I'm not a gardener at all, but my parents have great gardens so I know a bit about gardening. I moved into a house a few months back and have started thinking about what to do with the gardens. At the moment, most of the back garden is flat with concrete slabs all over, except for the bottom 12ft or so. Here the garden drops down a couple of feet lower, and there is flat soil over most of the area, with a shed on the left hand side. We have a good idea what we're doing with the main garden, but there is this small area at the bottom of the garden which we don't know what to do with.

On the left of the area is the shed, and on the right is a high fence. Across the back is a line of trees. So the entire area to the right of the shed is in the shade at all times of day. Someone suggested to me that I could put a greenhouse there and try growing some vegetables. There is enough room for a small 6x4 greenhouse, but is this a good idea? I'm in two minds, but I don't really have a lot to go on. I know greenhouses should be at least partially shaded, and I also know that the metal shed (which has no windows) gets very warm inside during the summer, so presumably a greenhouse would too, even in the shade.

So what do the experts think? Is there any point in building a greenhouse in an area like this?

 

I wouldn't, personally, put a greenhouse in even part shade ... if the greenhouse was small I would shade it in Summer to keep the heat out, but in the Spring and Autumn maximising the light is key to starting things off early, bringing early crops on, and finishing off late crops.

 

Absolutely agree with Kristen, it will be a waste of time and money to put a greenhouse in the shade. You might as well try growing veg in a shed, it will be warm, but without good light nothing will grow. Put your greenhouse in as sunny a spot as possible, you can then control the amount of shade in the blazing heat of summer, and it will get maximum light the rest of the year.

 

I would put my composting area there on the right and have the space between that and the shed as a "working area", making things, cutting bits of wood up etc etc. Some of the slabs from the main garden could be moved between shed and compost area. A bit of trellis to hide the area at the bottom of the garden and some climbers to ramble over it.

Steve...

 

Thanks everyone for the replies. Steve, that's very similar to what I had in mind before someone suggested a greenhouse. We already have our compost bin down there at the back of the shed.

 

Get the largest greenhouse you can afford/fit in, if you don't you will always wish had a bigger one.
There is never enough greenhouse space.

 

"Get the largest greenhouse you can afford/fit in, if you don't you will always wish had a bigger one.
There is never enough greenhouse space."

Plus, IMHO, it is much easier to keep a larger greenhouse cool in the Summer, than a small one.

Cooling a small greenhouse involves throwing everything open, which cools by draughts - which stresses the plants more.

In a large greenhouse you can most often cool just by convection, which causes less transpiration.