Alpine house

Greenhouse with minimal heating and good ventilation used to grow alpine plants and other perennials.

The needs of certain moisture-sensitive rock plants can best be filled in an alpine house. Alpine houses provide minimal heat, but excellent ventilation (reducing risk of disease) which is usually by means of a door at each end, and windows or louvered panels set into the sides, as well as the roof ridge and below the staging. Heating is usually kept to levels just high enough to prevent hard-freezing of the soil mix, which allows a wide array of choice plants.

Plants are often grown in clay pots, sunken to the rims in sand on staging, reducing the need for watering and offering some protection from cold. Plants in plastic pots may not have to be plunged, but at the risk of dehydration if the growing medium freezes hard in winter. Raised beds allow for landscaping and provide a deep root run, however plants can't be moved.

Shade your alpine house in the summer to keep plants cool (start in late spring through early fall). Where possible, move potted plants which have finished flowering to an open plunge bed or an outdoor cold frame.