Function

• Mainly used to house transplants in the early spring, greenhouses can also provide salad vegetables during winter months.
  
  

Types

• Greenhouses can be attached to a building in lean-to fashion, free standing like hoop houses, window mounted, or even constructed as small frames that fit over sections of the garden.
  
  

Buy or build

• Prefabricated greenhouses are available in a variety sizes, but tend to be almost seven times the cost of comparable do-it-yourself structures. DIY plans for many sizes and types of greenhouses are available at your local library, bookstores and on the Internet.
  
  

Heating

• With proper site selection and choice of materials, a greenhouse can produce cold weather vegetables throughout the winter without a supplemental heat source.
  
  

Life span

• Depending on the materials, a greenhouse can last for a few months or 20 years. Hail, wind, snow accumulation and material degradation can quickly destroy a greenhouse.