Greenhouse with mass on west facing slope

Hi all,

Our land is south-west facing, yet our terraces are really west facing. We have also quite a bit or flat land, yet for me to build the greenhouse in the middle of it would really destroy the scenery. Furthermore, having worked in greenhouses a bit, obviously temperature swings going from -3 to +45 Celsius isn't very good for most plants. So the ideal place would really be on one of our terraces, which are beautifully made of stones. But then the wall should ideally be on the south, so what do I do? The point of the greenhouse is not so much to increase the heat in the summer (south of france, hot enough), but to extent the growing season (because we still have frost danger until mid april) and most importantly for a tree nursery.

Should I build a wall on the north as well --vertically from the stone terrace retaining wall, if you know what I mean--, or perhaps stack a few IBC containers inside the greenhouse on the north side? Or is it a bad idea for a greenhouse, and should i just use our flat piece of land and build a greenhouse with a wall solely on the north side? So the point is really to add heat in the winter and to reduce heat in the summer.  (The disadvantage of the greenhouse on the west facing terrace might be that there isn't much morning sun from the east)

any resources or books I should read?

Interesting conumdrum, I am keen to see a solution.

I have been contemplating on this and now I'm thinking that in the winter, the eastern and western sun are not worth much, it's the southern sun we are after, isn't it?

That means I can build against the west facing terrace, and build a wall on north side. I suppose.

Yes, perhaps send a photo

Han Kop wrote:I have been contemplating on this and now I'm thinking that in the winter, the eastern and western sun are not worth much, it's the southern sun we are after, isn't it?

When designing your greenhouse, I think it's important to pay attention to the position of the sun in early spring and late fall. It won't be in the same place as high summer. Depending on your latitude, it may be much lower in the sky and rise/set further to the north or south. The low angle means it will reach much farther up a heat-retaining wall, but it also means other trees or land features can create unexpected shade.