AJuff Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 Before the cold snap I planted out the raspberries and felt delighted to put a spadeful of home made compost in with each one! (What a pity I don't have enough to fill my new raised beds!) I also put in three potatoes left over from school planting and put one of my new cloches over them. The supports seemed very flimsy to me as did the plastic. After a bit of wind, rain and snow it is completely trashed as I suspected it would. Now I'm not sure what to buy to replace it. Can anyone recommend a sturdy cloche that will stand the elements? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyren Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 The Organic Gardening Catalogue sells plastic versions of Victorian bell cloches - not cheap, but they look very sturdy: http://www.organiccatalog.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=657 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tara.F Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 buy some of that blue plastic water pipe, the flexible one from builders merchants. cut into four equal lengths. Now get yourself eight garden canes, stick them deeply into the ground in two rows of four, evenly spaced. jam the pipe onto the first cane, bend it over and jam onto the first cane in the second row to make an arch. Do the same again with the second canes and so on till you have a 'tunnel' Now you can cover this with polythene to protect from frost and later, when risk of frost has passed, you can change the cover for netting to keep birds of or environmesh to keep bugs off and so on This idea came originally from the late, great geoff Hamilton. The tube tunnels last for years and years....you never need take them down if you don't want to, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyren Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 I have a similar arrangement built into one of my Link-a-Bord raised beds - very handy for keeping the chooks off my salad leaves! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJuff Posted March 23, 2008 Author Share Posted March 23, 2008 I like the idea of the water pipe as I can then make it the exact size I need. I feel a bit silly asking the question but how do you attach polythene or netting on to stop it blowing away/tearing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tara.F Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 I use tent pegs, just three each side to hold it then I gather up the two ends and twist them till taught at ground level, pinning with another peg each. Geoff Hamilton simply buried the edges with three inches of topsoil but I have found that even the slightest breeze makes this a very tiresome task Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJuff Posted March 24, 2008 Author Share Posted March 24, 2008 Thanks for that! I can't wait to get cloches up and veggies in now. What a pity today I have the time but nothings open here and it's snowing!!! I'm waiting for a break in the snow to clean out the hens! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...