Bottle Cloches

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Comment by Glenn Fletcher on September 13, 2009 at 12:18pm

Hi Nancy
This is a picture of my allotment. In England you can rent a small parcel of land to grow fruit and vegetables on. Some people also keep chickens.
You don,t have to keep it as tidy as a residential garden, so i like to recycle things.
I have a problem with horsetail weed roots in the soil. So i built the large sieve on the left with the idea of being able to sieve them out. It never really worked though.
I think that bottle cloches are the cheapest way of giving young plants that little bit of protection from chilly winds in the spring and autumn.

Comment by nancy farren on September 13, 2009 at 11:35am

What a great idea, I like the cloches too!

Comment by Joel LeGrand on September 9, 2009 at 12:50pm

I showed my wife your CLOCHES, so she would understand why I am saving 2 & 3 liter drink container to use in the spring. Thanks for the help!

Comment by Glenn Fletcher on May 17, 2009 at 3:47pm

Hi Ian
Thanks for your comment. You,ve certainly moved to a warmer climate.
Is it easier to garden in Southern France than in the North of England?

Comment by Glenn Fletcher on May 17, 2009 at 2:49pm

Joy
I suppose you could try obtaining them from friends, neighbours or local cafe's.
I have just started using 1gallon bottled water containers, donated by my son. These are even better than soda bottles as they are larger.
Really its just about giving young plants some protection from the weather in the cheapest way you can. My neighbour uses the old fashioned cloche made from of two pieces of glass with a small steel clip at the top. These work very well, but if their are young children about they may not be suitable.

Comment by Joy Williams on May 16, 2009 at 6:51pm

er.....

what if you don't drink soda? I don't have any plastic bottles like this :(

Comment by Ian on May 16, 2009 at 5:50pm

Hi Glen,
I'm pleased to see that I'm not the only gardener who grows plastic bottles..... I'm originally from Lancashire although my family are from Saddleworth so you can take your choice abut which county I come from. I use bottles and just cut the holes with my gardening knife. I like the idea of staking them... I also need to keep a bit of moisture in so don't need the holes too big though. Thanks Glenn

Comment by Nancy H on May 16, 2009 at 4:21pm

Thanks Glenn!

Comment by Michelle W. Flannery on May 8, 2009 at 11:18am

This is a great garden. It's very inspiring to see pictures like this and learn how others are managing their gardens. Everything here looks great!

Comment by Glenn Fletcher on May 8, 2009 at 11:07am

Yes Nancy. The bottles keep the plants protected from cold winds & give them a help when they are just planted. I usually keep the bottles on for a couple of weeks. I now tend use plastic sleeves with a cane to stop them blowing away, as shown on the right hand side of the picture. These are made by cutting the top & the bottom off a plastic bottle. The holes are put in by heating up a 6" nail & pushing it through the plastic. This was a bit of a chore, hence the use of sleeves now. The larger the bottle the better.

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