Ten tips for growing plants in a winter garden

For some time now, the winter gardens are turning into a familiar sight in most countries. They are planned as part of the newly constructed single-family houses. They usually take the form of a house extension or if there is no such extension, people improvise by using the glazed balconies in their block of flats.

Winter gardens vary from just a few square meters to the size of a spacious room, and this largely depends on our ability to take care of the specific plants we own. The tips we would like to offer refer to the major aspects in the selection, cultivation and arrangement of the plants in a winter garden.

1. It is best for your garden to face North. This is so not only due to the better conditions which the northern exposure provides during the summer, but also due to the rather realistic threat of overheating of the plants even in wintertime, which imposes additional care for ventilation and preservation of the micro climate. During the summer, winter gardens with different than northern exposure must be aerated on a regular basis and for longer periods. This will reduce humidity, but increase possibility of pests. In the highlands, where temperatures are low in the summer eastern exposure is better than northern one. The Eastern exposure is useful for the sun shine on the winter garden during the morning hours, when the air is colder, and in this way reducing the possibility of overheating your plants, as compared to western or southern exposure.
2. If possible, use a transparent roof instead of a non-transparent one. It provides direct sunlight to your plants from above, which decreases the chance of deformation caused by the search for more light. The transparent roof of the winter garden is a prerequisite for more light and for better development even of the not-so-much-light-loving plants. It is impossible to provide a transparent roof if you use your glazed balcony or a well-lighted room for a winter garden. The problem is, however, that the winter gardens with glass roofs are less isolated and require more heating expenditures.
3. Planting of the plants directly into the soil is preferable due to the fact that they will be more cold-resistant, and will grow better and faster than the species grown in pots. Direct planting of flowers is possible only if your winter garden has a transparent roof, so that the plants get as little deformation as possible in their search for light . Plants directly planted in the soil in gardens with non-transparent roofs, will get deformated in their search for light and will eventually loose their decorative effect. In the winter gardens with non-transparent roofs, the plants need to be placed in containers which could be rotated on a regular basis.
4. It is better to choose subtropical flower species or even species from the temperate climate regions for your winter garden. They have a very gentle decorative effect during the winter months. If you manage to pick the perfect plant cast, even if the temperature falls under 0°C there won’t be any problem whatsoever. Some of the most popular subtropical flower species, to be used in your winter garden, are: Oleander, Hebe, Olea, Flavored Olea (Osmantus), Tangerine, Cycas, Archontophoenix (especially the Canary Archontophoenix), Trachycarpus, Chamaerops, Washingtonia, most types of Opuntia and Echeveria (it is imperative to keep their soil dry during the winter months), almost all species and sorts of Pelargonium, Azalea,  Paciflora,  Cyclamen and so on and so forth. Some annual plants like the Petunia, the Tropaeolum and most of the garden Impatiens sultani develop very well in the cool winter gardens and they blossom abundantly during the whole winter.  These species are less resistant to temperature falls below 0°C. In the winter gardens you can grow some flower species which can be grown outdoors:  Magnolia grandiflora, Lagerstroemia, Fatsia, Fatshedera, Hedera sorts, evergreen sorts as Lugustrum, Aucuba, Ilex, Nandina, cold-resistant species as the Bambusa etc.
5. Arrangement of plants in large containers is not practical in the winter gardens with non-transparent roofs, because the containers need to be rotated, and when they are too heavy, this becomes quite hard to do. Another problem would be that all plants in the large container should be able to get direct sun light when rotated and this won’t be possible. Even more, such types of arrangements are not suitable for the balconies, where it is inappropriate to store large and heavy gardening equipment. To create an effect similar to the large container arrangement, you can arrange many small pots in the desired way and place them in a shallow container, and the space between them can be filled with perlite or some other inert material. In this way you will not increase the weight of the container and the advantage will be that every plant can be rotated on its own.
6. Winter gardens without heating systems are recommended for their low cost and They are effective only in the warmer southern places or in places sheltered from the cold in the cities, for example built immediately next to a building with a heating system. The effective accumulation of warmth is very important in winter gardens without heating, and that is why they have to be isolated well.
7. If you are not sure if you have chosen the most appropriate cold-resistant plants for your unheated winter garden, you can install some sort of heating system which will turn on if temperature falls under certain degree. It would be most effective if the heating system starts when temperature reaches 0°C. Usually the utmost values that are used are -3 up to -10°C, and the specific temperature depends solely on the plant species. By falling under this value, the heating turns on and works until the appropriate temperature is reached. Having in mind that such temperatures are rare or appear for a short period, the heating system in your winter garden should only work for a short period.
8. You should maintain optimal microclimate in the winter gardens so that you avoid damage of the plants. Another very important factor, besides temperature, is humidity. Usually high humidity is a problem during the winter because proper ventilation is limited, as opposed to summer, when low humidity can create serious problems. In the unheated winter gardens, you should water the plants sparingly, which when combined with lower temperatures leads to less evaporated water and lower air humidity as a whole. In the heated winter gardens, the heating and the specific plant species presuppose the need of regular watering, which adds to the large increase in air humidity. The easiest and most commonly used way of air humidity control is to periodically air the room. You conduct the airing in the warmest hours of the day (usually in the afternoon) or at dusk. In the coldest days it is not necessary to air the room, since in this case humidity is condensed on the windows and if your winter garden is properly created, the humidity should drain away and not create problems. Open water areas, such as small fountains will have a positive effect, but will inevitably take up a lot of space, and during the winter they can cause additional problems.
9. Even in the heated winter gardens, it is recommended to use mostly durable plant species, which can easily cope with lower temperatures, while the warm-loving and exotic plants are used more as decoration or as accent. The major difference between the two types of winter gardens is that, in the gardens with heating there are more blossoming and more colorful flowers.
10. Heated winter gardens are more pleasant for relaxation and spending your free time during the coldest moths, while the unheated gardens are attractive usually in late fall and early spring, when the weather is comparatively warm (with average temperature above 0°C). In February and March, in the sunny and warm days the temperature in an unheated winter garden can reach values of +25°C. The two types of winter gardens can be used for rest and relaxation during the fall-winter period.