Greenhouses Grow in Demand as Gardening Takes Off

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As more homeowners sheltered during the pandemic, they explored outside activities, with gardening growing into a favorite pastime for many. To grow gardeners’ newfound love for plants and gardens, greenhouses are popping up in more backyards.

Greenhouse manufacturers are reporting surging website traffic and demand over the past year.

Bunny Williams, who maintains an interior design practice in Manhattan, told The Wall Street Journal that the greenhouse has become a place of solace for her and her husband during the pandemic. They use their greenhouse to care for a variety of plants, such as orchids, succulents, passion flowers, and geraniums.

The greenhouses can be as elaborate as homeowners desire, from luxurious 25-by-50-foot metal-framed glass enclosures costing thousands of dollars to pop-up units of a few hundred dollars that homeowners purchase online.

But greenhouses are bringing their users more purpose than just plantings. They also double as places to entertain or even to work from.

“Greenhouses have a different smell, temperature, light, and humidity than that of being outside,” Kathryn Herman, a landscape designer who built a greenhouse on her property in Fairfield, Conn., told The Wall Street Journal. Herman spent about $324,000 to build her home’s greenhouse. “When you step into one, you are in a totally different environment, which makes them magical.”