Greenhouse advice and help

[John3]

I have a courtyard that is walled off on three sides by the house and the fourth side by a brick wall. The top of the area is open and was wondering if this can be made into a greenhouse area (I have two of these courtyards one on each side of the house.
Here's a basic drawing of the area.

[alamo5000]

How tall are the walls? Also outside the walls, describe what surrounds the walls and how far it is away?

For example I live in a big pine forest so there are tons of 60 and 70 foot tall or taller trees around.

Also it matters which way is North and all that.

If your courtyard walls are 10 foot tall they can cast shadows pretty far.

Without being there to actually measure and see the orientation to the sun it may be difficult to tell.

What one option MAY be would be to use one of the walls that runs east and west and on the south side of that wall put up a small lean to type greenhouse. Before you haul off and do that though, mark off the area you want to use (maybe put stakes in the ground) and monitor how much direct sunlight it gets for a day on a good sunny day.

[coloken]

I think it all comes down to one question "does the sun shine into/on that area?" And how much of the day?

[John3]

Originally Posted by alamo5000

How tall are the walls? Also outside the walls, describe what surrounds the walls and how far it is away?
...
Also it matters which way is North and all that.

one courtyard is north facing and the other is south facing. The walls are 8 ft high.

no trees on north side on the south side about 50 or 60 ft are some tall pines - the one that shadowed the house came down in a storm some years ago.

coloken and alamo5000
Is there some cheap way of finding out how much sun the area gets?

[Tom C zone 4/5]

Originally Posted by John3

Is there some cheap way of finding out how much sun the area gets?

Yes, sit out on the proposed space and make a map of where shade is. Repeat at different times of the day.

Now is near to solar minimum so sun will be as low in the sky (just about) as its gonna get.

Look around now for where rain water is going to have to go. Think about a rain barrel too.

[alamo5000]

Originally Posted by John3

one courtyard is north facing and the other is south facing. The walls are 8 ft high.

no trees on north side on the south side about 50 or 60 ft are some tall pines - the one that shadowed the house came down in a storm some years ago.

coloken and alamo5000
Is there some cheap way of finding out how much sun the area gets?

Here is how I selected an area for my greenhouse.... I got some stakes...I actually uses little 3 foot long bamboo sticks and marked off where I wanted my garden (or where I thought I wanted it)... I put some ribbon or something on these stakes so they were not confused with the others....

Then I went out several times a day and marked the shadow line. I went out at 8am. Then like 11am. Then like 1pm then like 3 and then like 5.

I marked my stakes with a little piece of masking tape ahead of time with the time. In your case you may need 2 or 3 stakes for each time because you may have more than one shadow line.

By the end of the day and actually before then, you will have a really good idea how the sun travels across the area and how the walls cast shadows which is your main concern.

This information could help you determine if you can do it at all, or if you do, what dimensions to make your greenhouse.

I am pretty sure (not positive) than an 8 foot wall will cast a shadow 10 to 15 foot out. But because you have walls on all sides the best is to measure it. One somewhat sunny day devoted to tv and a few trips out will help you determine if yes or no.