Cold Frames
Protecting Young Plants
Many of our leading super-markets and budget stores now stock plenty of products for your garden including plants and seeds. I am usually startled by the lack of information that comes with some of these products. My local store (which I won’t name) is currently selling Geraniums, Impatiens (Bizzy Lizzies) and a range of plants for hanging baskets and the allotment. Nice to see so much green on the shelves. However, we are still several months away from frost-free weather and I do worry for those plants which for many, even a light frost may reduce to a blacken mess. I wonder what percentage make it and grow to their full potential.
Unless you have a heated green house, conservatory or a well light window sill, it would be wise to wait until early May before buying young tender plants.
Hardening off with a cold frame
Your cold frame should not lay idle at any point in the year as there are so many great uses for one.
I would recommended the investment of a cold frame to protect against light frosts. This allows your tender seedling to acclimatise – from the warmth of your greenhouse, to cold nights out in the open. This conditioning is known to us gardeners as ‘hardening-off’ and really should be taken seriously. The ‘shock’ of putting young plants out into colder conditions can do a lot of damage and even kill tender plants.
A cold frame’s uses doesn’t just end with the start of warmer weather. You can also grow plenty of plants that need warmer conditions than the British weather can provide. I use a cold frame to grow melons.
You can also use a cold frame to protect tender perennial plants from the cold. Many of the alpines in my rock garden spend the worst of the winter under the protection of my cold frame.
You can buy a cold frame from as little as £25 – Gone Gardening.