If you are planning to install a greenhouse, take some time to really think about where you want to position it so that it blends into your garden design and receives enough light and warmth for the plants to flourish.

Avoid exposed sites as they will make your greenhouse cold - making it expensive to heat or subjecting the plants to the risk of frost damage on cold nights. Likewise, avoid spaces between buildings as they will act as wind tunnels, or areas at the bottom of slopes or next to hedges that can act as frost pockets.

Advance planning is the key to successfully positioning a greenhouse. Make a shade map of the garden throughout the year, marking on the shadows from the house, trees or other large features. You are aiming to find a site that is not in the shade for more than a few hours each day.

If the greenhouse is used mostly in the summer, its longer axis should run north to south to receive the best light. If you are planning to use the greenhouse for over-wintering tender specimens or raising plants in the spring, the sun will be lower in the sky during that time of the year, and so an east-west orientation will provide good light for much of the day. However, it's worth considering that the dimensions of many small greenhouses (e.g. 6 by 8 ft or 8 by 10 ft) are practically square, so it would be sufficient enough to position any one side in a south or southwest facing aspect for the best exposure to sunlight.

Free-standing greenhouses should be positioned in a sheltered area away from buildings and large trees (trees will cast shade and falling leaves may cover the glass during autumn). A lean-to should be set against a wall that receives both sun and shade - it must receive a certain amount of shade in summer, otherwise it will overheat.