Most people use their greenhouses for keeping tomatoes, herbs and flowering plants, but some gardeners are tempted to try something a little more exotic. Banana trees and coconut palms can grow extremely well in a greenhouse environment, giving you access to fresh tropical fruit even if you live in a northern climate – but they grow fast, and need a lot of space. Of you want to keep exotic plants like these, it’s important to choose greenhouse designs which can accommodate them.

Starting off with small specimens, many people don’t realise just how big plants like this can get. Pruning them doesn’t really work – they’ll still keep growing upwards, often smashing through the roofs of inadequately sized greenhouses – at which point, of course, they get too cold and simply die. What’s more, they need to be tall in order to produce their optimum yield. This doesn’t mean that they’re impossible to keep in greenhouses, but conventional box greenhouses are clearly unsuitable.

Before you buy, ask your garden supplier how big the plants you’ve chosen are likely to become, and choose your greenhouse accordingly, allowing an extra foot of height in case your specimen does unusually well. Greenhouse designs like the gothic greenhouse are well suited to keeping taller plants, as they provide extra space without becoming unstable – a tall greenhouse needs to have a reasonable floor area as well, or it may suffer in strong winds.

A tall, leafy plant, properly cared for, can look amazing in your greenhouse, giving it real character. Be careful to choose and position your other plants so that they don’t suffer from being overshadowed by it. Some plants, when encountering such shadows, will grow taller themselves in an attempt to reach the light, though this may lead to them becoming unstable so you should be ready to support them with canes. Greenhouse gardening like this enables you to do something really different, and can give you years of pleasure.