Use A Cold Frame For Growing Plants All Winter
If you are one of those people who just can\’t live without gardening, worry not as nothing will bother your pastime if you have a cold frame. We all know that nowadays it is just hard to have a good and well brought up garden. This is partly due to the fact that the weather has been changing drastically over the past years and it\’s becoming worst and worst. Most people attribute this type of weather to global warming. Despite global warming changing the way plants grow, we don\’t have to change anything as long as we use a cold frame to grow our plants during the winter. Why winter? Because it seems winter is the longest season of them all.
A cold frame lets you extend your gardening season all year round, and at the same time starts your growing season early. It traps the sun warmth and protects the plants from the wind and cold weather. They will protect your plants for a few months depending on the type of frame that you are using. It is also portable and can be permanent as well. A cold frame will cost you very little and as it relies on the warmth from the sun and is easy to build too. Here are the steps on how you can use a cold frame for your winter plants.
You will need:
- Cold frame
- Fence
- Building
- Plant seedlings
Steps:
- First, place your cold frame faced to the southeast. By placing the cold frame in that position, your plants will get the most warmth from the sun. Or, you can try to place your cold frame where it will get the most protection from the wind and other elements. You can put it up against a wall. Although a heated house will give extra warmth, you can put it on a garage, a shed or a solid fence.
- Then, choose a spot with good drainage as plants will not survive if their roots are stuck in wet conditions all winter. Allow the water to drain by placing the spot slightly sloped. You can also build the slope by yourself. If you place the cold frame in the earth just a bit, you will have extra insulation for warmth.
- If you are using a portable cold frame and as soon as your plants can survive without the cold frame, move the cold frame to another part of your garden. This will warm the soil in that part of the garden for planting seeds such as beans.
Now you don\’t have to worry about the weather destroying your plants\’ hope of living. Having a cold frame for gardening purposes during the winter is the best decision and solution to have your plants grow up healthily.
Image Credit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/awesomefound/5018890337/
Additional Reading:
The Complete Greenhouse Book: Building and Using Greenhouses from Cold-Frames to Solar Structures
