Features & options

Installing your greenhouse on a soil site

This is our recommended option as any excess water inside the greenhouse (you will be sloshing lots of it about whilst watering your plants) will easily drain away. The greenhouse is easy to secure - simply dig a hole at each corner and concrete the ground anchors into position once you have completed glazing. If you are in a windy spot, dig your holes a little deeper and use a bit more concrete.

Installing your greenhouse on a hardstanding

The base will sit directly onto a level hardstanding such as concrete or paving slabs. No need to use the ground anchors with this method, just drill through the bottom lip of the base and anchor the greenhouse down with screws or bolts. Beware of this method in a windy area as the strength of the greenhouse will depend on the screw fixings.

Horticultural glass

Traditionally, greenhouses have beeen glazed with this, the cheapest glass available, supplied in small overlapping panes. Over tha last 10 years we have witnessed a trend away from horticultural glass, towards the much safer toughened glass.

Toughened glass small pane

This is the most popular Europa Manor glazing option. The relatively small (up to 2ft x 2ft) panes are easy to carry, fit and indeed replace.Toughened glass will withstand a far greater impact than horticultural glass - a blunt blow such as a ball hitting it will not normally break it. But it is personal safety that is the biggest reason for specifying toughened glass. Children or gardeners of any age can trip in the confined space of a greenhouse and fall into the glass. When toughened glass breaks it crumbles into hundreds of small pieces, whilst these are still sharp, they are not long dangerous shards.

Toughened glass large pane

This has all the benefits as described above but in taller panes, reducing the number of overlaps.

Polycarbonate

Although popular on the Continent, polycarbonate has never really taken off in the UK. It has the advantage that it is better insulated than glass, being constructed with twin walls with a gap between them.Polycarbonate will also provide a diffused light which could be beneficial during bright summer sunshine. Polycarbonate is also very light and therefore easy to handle. There are some disadvantages to polycarbonate. Being lightweight we would not recommend it for windy areas. Being plastic, the surface attracts dirt and encourages algae, reducing light levels inside the greenhouse (not a problem in the summer but a different story in the autumn, winter and early spring months. Polycarbonate also suffers from condensation between the layers, further reducing light transmission and encouraging algae to form.

Stainless steel “W” clips push into the frame and retain the glass in place. With small pane glazing (horticultural or toughened glass) the panes will overlap using “Z” clips. With the large pane toughened glass option, the “Z” clips are usuually not required.

Extra bracing has been included on key Europa Manor models. This makes them much stronger and better able to withstand strong wind than is normal for greenhouses in this price range.

The Regent 6x8 and Marquess 6x10 have an extra brace either side of the door, considerably strengthening this vulnerable area.

The 8x10 Consort, 8x12 Viscount and the 10x 12 Sovereign come with a total of 7 extra braces front and back, making the frame very rigid indeed. In addition these 3 models enjoy the additonal benefit of ridge and eave braces on every bay.

The larger Europa Manor models, 8x10 and 8x12 both feature this enormously strong (and heavy) box section ridge. This ridge is much stronger than the the normal flat "T" profile of other greenhouses. The ridge is one of the key structural components in a greenhouse and it is the box section that is one of the main reasons for these models being so strong.

Proper ventilation is absolutely essential to sucessful growing under glass. There are 3 main elements to achieving this:

1. Reducing heat

This is best achieved by ensuring that the greenhouse has an adequate number of roof vents.

2. Air circulation

Humid, stagnant air encourages disease. Fit louvre vents let cooler air circulate and force the hot air out of the roof vents.

3.Temperature control

The temperature inside the greenhouse will vary greatly throughout the day (even in early Spring the temperature can quickly soar), requiring the vents to be constantly adjusted. Add solar powered automatic vent openers to maintain a more constant temperature (even a cloud passing overhead will cause the autovent to close a little - you couldn't possibly achieve this degree of control yourself).

The popular 8x10 Consort and 8x12 Viscount are available with a choice of single (offset to either right or left) or double doors.

The double door option provides a 4ft wide opening, making access much easier and on really hot days, greatly adding to the available ventilation.

Owners of older greenhouses often call us asking for replacement door wheels (often impossible as models and specifications change). To the best of our knowledge, we cannot recall a single person asking for Europa Manor door wheels. Each door is hung on no less than 8 wheels!