Cold frames provide the perfect micro climate for the new season
ECO GARDEN
Cold frames are such a traditional part of a garden that it does not seem as if they have a place in an eco-gardening feature. But it just proves that gardening the eco-way does not mean anything gimmicky, but often going back to traditional methods as they still work well.
You can over winter plants that are fairly tender and in summer a cold frame produces some good crops of cucumbers and peppers
They work like a miniature unheated greenhouse, comprising a frame of wood or aluminium and with glass, plastic or
polycarbonate glazing, with a hinged or removable lid. Plants are grown in a micro-climate, protected from wind, rain and fluctuating temperatures in the colder months and at night.
It allows you to start off many more of the tender plants and to grow them on before planting out in late spring or early summer. Seeds can be propagated in this way, and cuttings as well.
You can overwinter plants that are fairly tender. In summer a cold frame can produce some good crops of cucumbers and peppers. It is even possible with care to raise one or two melons.
Choose a warm sunny spot for a cold frame. The better made they are the better results you will get, and there are many cold frames available on the market. You can also make your own by recycling old windows supported by a frame of bricks.
But a home made cold frame must be well constructed and not have gaps to let cold air in, particularly at night. On cold nights a blanket or piece of old carpet could be laid over the frame, or a piece of plastic held down with bricks round it.
Another idea in a frosty period is to put some plastic bottles of hot water next to the plants. Use bubble wrap polythene as extra insulation inside the frame, or polystyrene tiles round the sides. This will keep out several degrees of frost.
Cold frames should also be well ventilated, and it is vital that
you lift up the lid on warm sunny days. Harden off young plants by leaving the lid open for a gradually longer amount of time, usually over a few days before planting them outside.
If you buy young bedding plants from a nursery it is a good idea to harden them off in this way in a cold frame – too many of us are seduced by the colourful displays of bedding plants in the spring, and plant them out before the conditions are warm enough.
Clean out the cold frame in the autumn before you put in the plants you want protected during the winter, so that plant diseases don’t spread.
Spring bulbs can become congested if left to naturalise for several years. After dividing them up the smaller ones can be placed in a cold frame after repotting them in a John Innes No2 or peat free compost.
In milder areas it is possible to start off sweet peas in October or November in a cold frame (or an unheated greenhouse), thus getting them off to an early start the following spring.
People often discover that they have bought too small
a greenhouse, as they soon become filled with all the plants you want to grow. You may find that you need more than one cold frame, or you will be overcrowding plants in a single frame.
These will do well in a cold frame
warmth
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