TheGardenCloche.com : Latest News

Plant Cover Vs. Wind

Sun, 24 Jul 2011 00:29:36 +0000

A plant cover can serve many purposes. One of the many purposes is that it keeps the plant literally sheltered from all wind. Have you ever watched in horror as some of your plants get tossed around from high winds as you pray that they won't tear into pieces. Mother nature is unpredictable and unless a storm is in the forecast, it's usually difficult to tell what days are going to be windy. Covering your plant from high winds is actually a pretty challenging task. If you have a greenhouse or cold frame, then you're in pretty good shape. But for most of us that don't have those, how can you protect your plants from damaging wind? Garden cloches work very well in blocking the wind. I'm sure there's lots of creative ways of blocking the wind from your plants, but using cloches is pretty much as easy as it gets.

The Easiest Garden Cold Frame

Fri, 03 Dec 2010 21:19:36 +0000

For most of us, the winter will have a major impact on our gardening. For those further up north, it's tough to keep your garden just warm enough to keep the plants growing. For those further south, it's a matter of keeping the frost away. There are always ways of gardening throughout the entire year, it's just finding the method that works best for you. Maybe it's a greenhouse. Maybe it's just growing herbs inside. Maybe it's using cloches and cold frames.

As I'm still learning of what works best for me and my region, I like to try different gardening methods. Gardening is a lot of trial and error. So in this post since it is winter, I'll show you how to make the easiest garden cold frame. Not only is it super easy, but it's doesn't cost too much money.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3 - Coming soon...

Have You Seen This Cool Composter Tool?

Fri, 26 Nov 2010 23:42:06 +0000

If you haven't seen this cool composter tool, get ready to be impressed. It's called the GreenCycler. It's basically a bin that shreds your waste that you can eventually take out to your composter. The shreding makes the waste compost much faster because it's already broken down. It doesn't rely on electricity or batteries. It has a handle on the side that you crank to shred the waste. There's a bin that you can pull out at the bottom to take the waste out and dump in your compost. I think it's a clever way of speeding up your composting and it's not something that's going to increase your electricity bill. If you would like to checkout their website, go to http://thegreencycler.com/ I've never used this product myself, but if any of you have seen or tried it, I'd love to hear your feedback.

How To Make The Easiest Raised Bed Garden

Mon, 08 Nov 2010 23:29:39 +0000

This is going to be a series of videos on How To Make The Easiest Raised Bed Garden. I made this raised bed garden over a weekend end, but it was really put together in one day. So if I can do it in one day while watching my two kids, anyone can do it. It costed about $70, but you could certainly make it for much less than that if you have the right resources.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Organic Gardening with Plant Covers

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 18:15:30 +0000

If you’ve gardened before you know you’re going to have to deal with insects and pests. Your region will determine what kinds of insects and pests you’ll have to deal with. Some will cause a mere annoyance and some can be devastating to your entire garden, so it’s important to deal with them promptly before an infestation occurs.

While you’re probably not going to die if you use chemicals on your home garden, I prefer to be as organic as possible. My purpose of having a home garden was to have control of what I’m growing and eating and making sure it’s clean and healthy, so to me, using chemicals on my garden would defeat my purpose. I don’t have anything against people who use chemicals, it’s just your personal preference. I think you can achieve the same gardening results with or without chemicals, so why not go without.

For me, pest control can be so tough because I don’t have the time to check on my plants. I can’t just apply some sort of pest control solution and then check it after lunch because I’m working. So my fear is that I apply it and it doesn’t work and by the time I get back in the late afternoon, the insects went to town on my garden. Maybe it’s just paranoia, but I want serious plant protection. If you’ve ever had a horned caterpillar in your garden you know what damage they can do. There’s a reason why they get so plump and massive. They eat like crazy!

One of the most susceptible times for a plant is when they’re young. When they’re young they’re just growing their root system and if they’re transplanted there’s probably stress on the plant. It’s a very fragile time for the plant and they need protection. Some of the saddening gardening moments are when your young plants and seedlings don’t make it and have to be removed. It’s sad and annoying because you’ve either put in a lot of attention and effort in growing it up to that point or paid money to buy the plant, and then some pests come along and treat it like a buffet or a hotel for their offspring. What I’ve found as an organic gardening pest control solution are cloches.

One of the most effective forms of plant protection are garden cloches, which in layman’s terms are plant covers. These cloches or plant covers are transparent covers that essentially prevent anything from harming your plant. What can’t get to your plant can’t destroy it. It’s a barrier to all pests looking for their next plant to snack on. These plant covers also help you maintain an organic garden since not chemicals are needed to keep the bugs away. The covers keep your plants safe, healthy and fresh.

How Garden Cloches Work

Thu, 28 Oct 2010 23:53:37 +0000

Garden cloches are a super simple tool with a simple design. I love that about them. They’re easy to use and they work. I don’t need tons of features on it. I just want something that will help my plants grow. I know that garden cloches work, but some may not know how they work. I’m not a scientist nor am I a “master gardener”, but I can give you a simple explanation of how they work.

1. Cloches go over your plants, covering them throughout the day.

2. Sunlight heats up the soil throughout your garden.

3. As the sun goes down and the temperature drops, heat from the soil begins to escape.

Because the garden cloche is in place, that heat is captured as it tries to escape from the soil and remains in the cloche, while uncovered soil will lose the heat and moisture.

Wet soil retains heat better than dry soil, so cloches actually retain the moisture in the soil, thus keeping it warmer.

When All Hail Breaks Loose On Your Garden

Mon, 18 Oct 2010 23:12:38 +0000

Spring and Summer time is usually filled with excitement to start gardening again. The weather is warming up and seeds have been planted and your garden is growing! Just when you think everything is going perfectly...hail! Hail can sneak up behind you and dessimate your entire garden. It's like having a firing squad let loose on your defenseless plants. Protecting your garden from hail can save you a lot of frustration, time and effort. There are several things you can do to save your plants from the "ice bullets". One method is to use a ground cover cloth. You can put the cloth over your seedlings to help absorb some of the impact. Another method is to use cloches to cover your seedlings and small plants. Cloches will provide a strong and secure sheild to hail. Because cloches are made of hard plastic or glass, the hail will have zero impact on your young plants (unless the hail are golfball size or bigger. In that case you probably have some more important things to worry about - like your house and life!). Also, with cloches they will not fly away during the hail storm because you can use pegs to secure them in place. You can read some more about protecting your garden from hail here.

From Failure to The Garden Cloche

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 23:36:44 +0000

When you start a garden you’re filled with high hopes and dreams of juicy vegetables and fruit just waiting to be picked. Hopes and dreams are great, but the reality of gardening can be a bit more sobering. It’s not always the dreams of standing in your backyard with the morning sun shining on your face and your feet wet from the morning dew as you pick a perfectly ripe cantaloupe from the vine and slice it open. Then as you sink your teeth into the freshly cut cantaloupe and taste it’s sweetness a double rainbow forms overhead almost as a sign that your garden will produce a great abundance of fruit and vegetables this year. It could happen, but it takes a lot of hard work, trial and error and mistakes to make a dream like that a reality.

On the contrary to the description above, for many people, including myself, gardening can be anything but sun, dew, ripe cantaloupe and double rainbows. From my experience of beginning a garden it’s more like clouds, frost, caterpillars and uncertainty that anything will produce.

One reason that lead me to start TheGardenCloche.com was my utter failure of transplanting seedling to my raised bed garden. With no clue of the final day of frost for my zone, I eagerly went to Home Depot and bought a propagator and a bunch of seeds – tomatoes, zucchini, green onions, peas, cucumbers and some herbs. I watered the compressed soil (or coconut husk…whatever that stuff is) and planted the seeds delicately. Then I waited. I checked the progress of the seeds everyday and made sure they had enough water. They grew well and pretty quickly. I soon realized that these seedlings were getting too big for the propagator and that it was time for them to be transplanted. The problem was that it was still cold outside. I could feel that any small seedling would inevitably perish in that kind of wet, cold, windy weather. With a prayer in my heart I turned off my common sense and went ahead and released the seedlings into the wild to survive on their own, hoping that somehow they'd thrive. Well, survive they did not. Just days later they were all shriveled up, limp and lifeless. Sad, but still determined to grow something I did more research into growing in my area. I discovered when I should be planting outside and what I should be planting. I waited for the weather to warm up and then re-planted – some plants, some seeds. As I was learning about gardening I came across garden cloches and thought how clever and useful they were. They looked like a mini greenhouse for an individual plant. The thing was, I could not find garden cloches anywhere. I found greenhouses, plant covers, blankets, but no garden cloches. How could such a practical and useful gardening tool not be available in the US?! …And thus TheGardenCloche.com was born. Hopefully now others that begin a garden don’t have to go through the frustration and disappointment I did.

The Best Gardening Method Is...

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 23:25:35 +0000

There are tons of different ways to keep plants warm and protected from frost or cold weather. You can use everything from blankets to greenhouses. I think all the different methods work to some degree, some better than others, however it’s finding the method that fits your needs the best. What I mean by that is that everyone gardens differently and is looking for the best method for them. For example, someone people only have time to garden after work while others may be retired and have the time to garden throughout the entire day. Different circumstances require different gardening methods and tools. For myself, I can only garden in the evenings and the weekends. I don’t have time in the morning to check out the garden and see how it’s doing. This is why I do not use plant blankets or other plant covers that are not transparent. Because if I were to put a blanket on my garden at night, I wouldn’t have time in the morning to take it off and the plants would cook and die because of the hot sun shining down on the blanket all day and the little air circulation. I like using the plastic cloches for protection. Because for my schedule, I can put the cloche over the plant in the evening, leave the vent open and not have to worry about it. I know I don’t need to take it off in the morning or worry that it’s going to blow away and I know that air will be able to circulate. I also like the fact that the plastic cloches work well on both plants in my garden and potted plants.

I’m not saying plastic garden cloches are the best method for all gardeners, but it is the best method for the way I garden. Others like poly tunnel cloches because it’s like a one time investment, in that you build it once and your garden will stay protected from the harsh elements. There’s not really any maintenance with covering and uncovering after it’s been built – it stays covered and your plants stay warm. Others that have container gardens may like cold frames because it’s easy to move their potted plants inside the frame. Each method is different but all serve the same purpose of protecting your plants.

When it comes to gardening, there are a lot of methods because there are a lot of variables – zone, soil, humidity, climate, sunlight, plant species, harvest time, etc. It comes down to finding the best methods for your garden and your circumstances to control those variables.

Garden Cloches 101

Mon, 04 Oct 2010 22:52:52 +0000

There are a bunch of different types of garden cloches. There are different sizes depending on your garden size and different materials used. All gardens are different and located in different zones so it’s hard to say that one is the best. Some people have small container gardens on their patio and others have large lots that are the size of an entire backyard. So the type of garden cloche really depends on your garden and needs. This is a breakdown of some of the more common garden cloches.

Plastic Garden Cloche
The plastic garden cloche originated from the glass cloche. It is a more modern model compared to the glass cloche. They are made from light weight plastic that is much more forgiving when accidentally dropped or knocked over. Because they do not have the weight like glass to keep them secured to the soil, plastic cloches come with steel pegs that keep them from moving. One of the biggest advantages of plastic cloches are their built in air vents. These are adjustable vents that allow for air circulation so the plant does not over heat.

Poly Tunnel Cloche
Poly tunnel cloches are typically used from larger gardens that require the entire row of plants to be protected from the elements. These are more involved to install, but create an excellent environment for the plants to thrive and keep them from harmful weather and animals. A frame is made of wood or metal is constructed first and then covered with polyethylene. This provides good insulation and creates a green house like environment.

Tunnel Cloche
The tunnel cloche in some ways is a mix of the plastic garden cloche and the poly tunnel cloches. Though not as large as the poly tunnel cloche, the tunnel cloche does take the tunnel shape and can be made of either plastic, PVC or acrylic. They’re a functional tool for covering multiple plants or small rows. Like the plastic garden cloche, they also feature an adjustable air vent. They’re ideal for leafy vegetables such as lettuce, cabbage, spinach, bak choy, etc.

Cold Frame
Cold frames are much like boxes that you can put over your plants or to put your potted plants in. They come in various sizes and like all the other cloches have a purpose of protecting plants from frost and keeping them warm. They do not have air vents, so it is important to either open the top during the day or to take the plants out completely. They are larger and pretty bulky as they’re not really meant to be moved around too much. They would work well for people who have container gardens or have their garden in pots on a patio.