Greenhouse “Snowdrop”: design features, pros, cons

It is not only greenhouses that are being erected on household and summer cottages. Much more often, owners use small greenhouses, the construction of which does not take much time and money. Our tips site will tell you about this type of greenhouse called Snowdrop. This is one of the simplest and most popular options..

The portal has already written how you can make a greenhouse with your own hands. It is the “Snowdrop” design that is always popular among summer residents and owners of a garden. This greenhouse is a very simple design: an arched base and a covering material on top.

The “Snowdrop” is most often covered with agrofibre or ordinary polyethylene, and arcs made of bent metal, plastic pipes, wood can act as a frame. Such greenhouses are also called arched or tunnel greenhouses due to their specific shape..

As you can see, everything is really as simple as possible. Plastic, metal or wooden arcs are inserted into the ground, stuck securely, you can dig a little for fidelity. A covering material is stretched from above, which, so as not to be blown away by the wind, is best fixed on the base with plastic clips or just wire. In this case, it is necessary to provide the ability to lift the covering material in order to care for the plants and ventilate the garden. Ideally, the material should slide along arcs, like a curtain on a cornice.

Plastic wrap or agrofibre is often pressed to the ground with just old bricks. And to make the structure of plastic pipes more durable and not afraid of gusts of wind, wooden pegs are stuck on the sides. You can also substitute vertical supports under the extreme arcs. The distance between the arcs is usually 50 centimeters.

The standard dimensions of the Snowdrop are 1 meter in height, 1.1–1.2 meters in width and up to 6 meters in length. That is, it’s just a warm bed or two beds, sheltered from frost.

When choosing agrofibre for your Snowdrop greenhouse, please note that there are three options:

1. A material with a density of up to 30 g / m2 will protect plants only from light frosts, down to -2 ° C. But it will save you from the scorching sun.
2. A material density of 40-60 g / m2 will already allow plants to withstand frost down to -5 ° C.
3. If the density is higher than 60 g / m, the agrofiber will be black, it keeps heat very well, the plants will withstand frost down to -6 ° C.

Polyethylene in general is also good, it will create a greenhouse effect, but you will have to ventilate the greenhouse more often, condensation may accumulate on the walls.

The undoubted advantages of the “Snowdrop” type greenhouse include:

• Very simple and inexpensive design. Even if you decide to buy a ready-made greenhouse of a standard size, it will cost about 1300-1500 rubles. And it is designed for how many seasons.
• It is very easy to assemble, build a greenhouse, even an inexperienced owner can handle.
• You don’t need a foundation or something major, you can easily transfer the “Snowdrop” to another bed, change its location every season.
• The greenhouse will protect seedlings not only from frost, but also pests and insects.
• Easy to ventilate, convenient to care for plants by simply tilting, lifting the covering material.

Disadvantages of the “Snowdrop”, according to the reviews of the owners of the sites who have tested the design in practice, also have:

• Plastic structures are too flimsy, you have to additionally strengthen.
• Care should be taken of the tightness at the bottom of the greenhouse, sprinkling the edges of the covering material with earth or pressing down with stones, bricks.
• Every autumn you have to clean the greenhouse, it will not withstand the severity of the snow. And in the spring to rebuild. However, when stored in a shed or garage, the “Snowdrop” does not take up much space.