Cold Frame

Cold Frame Greenhouses

Rather then wait for the new season- to begin growing again- consider a cold frame greenhouse. Most greenhouse name brands offer a fine selection of cold frames for those who want to continue gardening into the winter. There are a few things to take into account before buying your first cold frame greenhouse.

Cold frames come in several styles and most can viewed through online vendors. For a good warrantee (12 years!) check out Juliana greenhouses. But don’t be afraid to shop around, (though we recommend sticking to name brands for quality) there is a lot of healthy competition out there, and that is in your favor.

If you’re concerned you might not want to greenhouse garden year-round there are collapsible, portable, cold frames available which can be easily stored under a bed or in a closet when not in use. Naturally, a cold frame greenhouse isn't best for large-scale growing operations. Also, a cold frame green house doesn't expand as easily as its full-sized companions, so it's often best to err by buying a cold frame that's too large.

Cold Frames

Most growers experience a down period during harsh months before spring and after fall. Fortunately, most name brands make a cold frame growing house designed to extend your grow cycle into winter weather. For those who are new to the world of growing, it's best to get small, but expandable greenhouse kits. A cold frame traps the heat from daily sunlight and resists cooling at night. They can be an excellent, yet inexpensive way to start your season early or extend it into late Fall.

There are several important things to remember when purchasing a cold frame--sticking with name brands is only one of them. A cold frame growing house can come in a variety of styles--most growers find that an online vendor is often a good place to find a quality selection, (Juliana greenhouses guarantee all of their cold frames to work for 12 years, so they're often worth browsing).

You may want a portable greenhouse. Featuring a Solaron cover these greenhouses can be great for those who don't grow year-round. When not in use, portable cold frame greenhouse kits can be collapsed and stored in a closet or under a bed

Cold frames trap moisture reducing the need for daily watering. The best place to install a cold frame is in a spot with a southern or southeastern exposure—make sure there is ample drainage. Cold frames are great for the grower who only needs room for eight mid-sized plants. Using PVC pipe fittings, it's possible to build your own walk-in greenhouse of any size.

Unfortunately, cold frames won't guard against harsh or sudden cold weather--additional steps must be taken. Experts recommend covering the structure with sacks of leaves or straw during the night. This is an excellent way to guard against sudden freezing--a surefire way to lose all of your plants.

Many growers encounter the same problem--they start small, but soon find they want more room. Fortunately, there are several types of greenhouses that are made to expand. A greenhouse made of PVC piping will easily refit, and Hobby Gardener is known for making adjustable-sized greenhouses.

Naturally, a cold frame greenhouse isn't best for large-scale growing operations. Also, a cold frame green house doesn't expand as easily as its full-sized companions, so if you want a cold frame but suspect you’ll need to expand later, buy an oversized cold frame to start out with..

Many Juliana greenhouses are known for their exceptional cold frame design. By using the Internet, many growers can find Juliana cold frame greenhouses starting at under $100. A recommended web vendor can also be a great way to browse from a variety of name-brand cold frame greenhouses.

How to Coax Fresh Vegetables From the Garden All Winter Long

Read on to discover simple tricks that will fortify your garden against the onslaught of frigid weather.

Fall often delivers brief cold spells with a few frost filled mornings, sandwiched between weeks of milder, frost-free conditions. The problem is that a single touch of frost can wipe out every tender annual growing in the garden. Fortunately, a little protection will enable frost sensitive vegetables and herbs to survive a cold snap, and reward the resourceful gardener with an opportunity to enjoy extended harvests.

Something as simple as the transparent, fleecy, floating row covers used to shield plants from harmful insects can also prevent frost damage. Row covers trap the warmth that radiates up from the earth much like the way that a cloud cover holds temperatures and prevents frost from forming. Row covers offer a few degrees of protection, keeping tender annuals safe from light frost. Use the thicker grade covers for maximum benefit.

Late summer is the ideal time to sow cold tolerant vegetables that will flourish in the fall and endure cold weather without complaint. Examples of hardy vegetables for fall gardening include: kale, spinach, collards, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels Sprouts, kohlrabi, turnips, cabbages, oriental greens, rutabagas, and some varieties of lettuce.

Once freezing conditions arrive, even cold hardy crops will appreciate some protection if they remain in the garden. Cardboard boxes and fruit baskets can provide shelter to individual plants, while old sheets, blankets, and heavy plastic tarps will protect entire rows or beds of plants. Apply the coverings in the evening when freezes are forecast and remove them the following morning after the sun warms the air.

Another effective solution is to use a commercial variety of cloche, or to set up a portable cold frame over the garden bed. Cloches include the heavy glass, bell shaped jars, or variously styled and shaped rigid plastic devices.

One style of cold frame consists of a tubular frame covered by a woven poly material with flaps for venting. You can also obtain sturdier cold frames made with aluminum framing and twin wall polycarbonate panels that lift up for venting. Regardless of the type of protection used to cover your plants you must remove it or provide venting during the day as temperatures rise.

Resourceful gardeners can combine a few discarded window sashes and bales of straw to create a simple makeshift cold frame. Just arrange the straw bales into a rectangular shape around a garden bed and lay the windows across the top to form an enclosed and insulated growing area. This setup will work great to keep a bed of leafy greens growing further into the winter.

Oddly enough, water can protect and insulate plants from the cold. Commercial orchards actually spray water and mist onto their trees to prevent frost damage.
In the home garden you can employ plastic gallon jugs filled with water to provide protection. Place the containers around plants, under floating row covers or tarps, and inside of your cold frames.

The water will absorb and store heat during the day and release it at night to provide warmth for your plants. You’ll get the best results by painting the jugs black so that they’ll absorb more energy from the sun during the day. Incredibly, even if the water in the container freezes, it will continue to release a significant amount of heat energy into the surrounding area.

Certain vegetables will survive on their own in the garden through bitterly cold conditions. Leeks, kale, and collards frequently withstand harsh winters without any protection. Fall planted garlic and shallots will develop strong root systems in the fall, spend the winter underground, and then spring up at the earliest signs of the arrival of spring.

Many root crops including beets, carrots, turnips, rutabagas, and parsnips can be left in the garden protected with a thick layer of shredded leaves or straw. You can then continue harvesting as needed, provided that the ground doesn’t freeze and prevent digging. Complete your harvesting before spring arrives though, since quality will degrade once the roots resume growing and switch into seed production mode.

With proper planning and a little extra care you can easily grow and harvest vegetables beyond the normal spring and summer seasons. Simply implement a few of the ideas presented in this article and you’ll soon enjoy your own home grown, fresh produce much longer than usual, possibly even year-round.

Preparing Successful Seedlings

Growing your own seedlings is very gratifying and far more economic than
purchasing them. It also gives you far greater control over your existing growing conditions.

Vegetable seeds need a light, friable soil that will hold moisture, to grow.
Seeds must absorb 40-60% of their weight in water to trigger germination. They
also need air. When they sprout, they take up moisture from the film of
water around the soil particles, they take up air from the space between those
particles. So soil quality is extremely important. Compacted soil will not allow your seeds
to sprout.

A good seed raising mixture could be the answer if you are unsure of the quality of your soil.
Individual 'peat pots' are a great invention because the whole pot goes into the ground without disturbing the roots
of your baby plants.

Warmth is also important to growing from seed. Most garden seeds will germinate
if soil temperature is around 20C. For colder climates seed beds must be kept
warm either by having them in a sunny protected spot in or near the house (like a
porch or garage, out of the elements) or in a glass covered cold frame.

For most vegetable seeds you can expect a germination time of 6-20 days. In another
4-5 weeks, those seedlings should be transplanted into your outdoor no dig garden bed.

It's a good idea to treat seeds with a good, all purpose fungicide (something like
a Rose Dust or Tomato Dust will be fine) before planting. Place a small amount, just
the tip of a knife end, into the packet, reclose and shake until the seeds are covered.
This will protect them from 'damping off', a common problem with very young
plants.

Care of Seedlings

Seeds must be kept moist but not wet until the seedlings emerge. This may take between
1-3 weeks, depending on the plant type.

As they grow stonger, thorough but less frequent watering is required. They will need
shade when young but should be increasingly exposed to the sun so they become used to
conditions in the garden. Water in the morning rather than at night.

Transplanting

Mark where you plan to put each of your plants. Use a trowel to make a hole large enough
to take the root system. Gently prise out the seedling from its container taking as much
of the soil as you can with it into the garden bed. Firm the soil around the plant in
its new position, cover the area with mulch and water in gently.

It is best to transplant in the late afternoon or evening to give the plants time to settle in less
stressful conditions.

About the Author

Judy Williams

Plant Away The Winter Blues

I look forward each day durring the winter. To some, lamenting the past days of fall with its bright foliage in the landscape, and feeling down that the dull days of winter are here. For me I have grown to appreciate each day and look forward to interests in landscapes that are there knowing that many dazzeling displays can be found by careful observation. The days are short and the nights are long. Yet growing plants and enjoying plants are year round activities that bring many quality hours of enjoyment.

Watering plants can be on your list of things to do. Make it a point to get out and check on your plants. The ground may not be frozen and plants still use water. If the ground is not frozen you can still water if the ground will accept the water. Most plants are dormant so the amount of watering is not as high as in the hotter seasons. Evergreens lose water through their needles in the winter. So if one keeps watering as long as possible into the winter, seedlings and plants will suffer less stress. Winter drying of evergreens is a major stress factor in overwintering.

Snow and ice on your plants can be problematic. Tall thin plants are not as sturdy a plant. They tend to bend under snow loads and may require staking later to train them strait. If your small plants have a light amount of snow covering them you may ease the snow burden by lightly sweeping the snow with a broom. Don't shake them, they are like babies ... they get shaken baby syndrome. If snow or ice is frozen to the branches, allow it to melt rather than attempting to correct. If any branches are broken, you probably don't need to do anything unless there is a split in the trunk. If the breakage of the plant is sever, the seedling or liner shoud be discarded. The labor to correct is not worth the value of the plant. Also a poor quality seedling will probably be a poor quality mature plant. There is a market for such plants however, we have had many customers who want, " Charly Brown Trees" or stunted trees for unusual customer needs.

Take advantage of winter warm spells to prepare for spring.

Warm spells in the winter occur. Suddenly, there can be days of warmer temperatures. This should not be a problem. When a warm spell occurs, get out and use some shoe leather and wear out those leather gloves. Its a great to have a break in mid winter and you can prepare for spring. If you have covering on or over the plants, you may need to ventilate. We normally open the doors to our greenhoses and this is usually all that is necessary. Cold frame temps may rise so ventilation will be helpful. Close up as nightfall arrives as the temperature will fall. Note that when sunlight intensity is high, plant tissues become active. Water loss at this time can't be replaced if the root are frozen. This is called plant desiccation. Also if there many freeze-thaw cycles, the crown of the plant will be heaved up exposing the roots. Root systems have a lower tolerance to temperature extremes and can killed by freezing low temperatures.A common way to prevent desiccation is to screen plants in exposed areas with Burlap .

Varmit control is important in the winter. Mice and rabbits feed constantly . Their teeth grow constantly and they love to chew on tender plants. We spread rat and mice bait about every two to threes weeks as long as we see it being consumed. Try and place the baits in a place where its easy to moniter, dry, and accessable only to the varmits. When the snow gets deep mice will feed up higher on the plants. They don't like to dig in the snow for food. They take the easy to reach food first. Thus tracks in the snow are an important sign to watch for. Mouse damage is usually not correctable. You may not see root feeding damage to stock till spring, so over baiting is the best solution. Care should be taken that the baits are only available to the target varmit. Viburnums are the most attractive, versatile, adaptable shrubs for any landscape. They can be used as hedges or screens and in mixed perennial/shrub borders. They can also stand alone as specimen plants. They usually take the form of shrubs, but some species can become small ornamental trees. They range in size from the Dwarf American Cranberrybush at 2 feet tall by 2 feet wide, to the Siebold at over 15 feet tall.

We feel that Viburnums are plants that have great winterinterest. All Viburnums have white to pink flowers in the spring. The foliage is large, attractive and often textured leaves. Some viburnums have fragrant flowers that are produced in snowball shaped clusters in April. Their flower clusters can consist of pink buds, which develop into white flowers. Some fruits are red and turn black with age usually bitter tasting. Leaves can be glossy, dark green and turn a burgundy color in the fall. Midsummer berries are an important food source for birds. Viburnums have colorful red to purple leaves. Some viburnums can become medium-size trees, especially if they are pruned. Viburnums excel as specimen plants or as anchors in mixed borders. You won't find a more versatile group of shrubs for hedges or for massing in groups, since viburnums hold their own in every season. Some viburnums, such as Prague viburnum 'Pragense', are evergreen. Others, such as leatherleaf viburnum, are semi-evergreen in colder climates, losing their leaves when temperatures dip below 10 degrees.

The great feature of Viburnums is that they are adaptabe. While they would like full sun and moderately watered, well-drained rich soils, they will grow very well in part shade, and in clay soils. Diseases and pests rarely attack them and they don't tend to have to be spayed. My kids have run over them with brush hogs and they survived. Their fibrous root system makes them transplant easily.

In your search for a good, hardy shrub with winter interest consider the Viburnum family.

Viburnums have long been popular garden plants, celebrated for their white, often fragrant spring flowers and their fall color. But it's the Asian viburnums that have so far ruled the roost. Perhaps the most widely appreciated viburnums are the Burkwood viburnum (Viburnum x burkwoodii), and the Korean spice viburnum (V. carlesii), both of which fill the air with a pleasant odorin mid-spring. Also popular is the doublefile viburnum (V. plicatum f. tomentosum), valued for its layered habit, fall foliage, and clusters of red fruits. Viburnum acerifolium (Maple-leafed viburnum) Although I wouldn't garden without any of these, I have a special fondness for several of our very gardenworthy native viburnums. They may not provide the enticing flower fragrance of their Asian cousins, but I love them not only for their rich fall foliage color but also for their fruit displays, which attract wildlife to my garden in the fall and durring the bleak winter months. In addition, several are useful to today's waterwise gardeners or for urban conditions. They require only corrective pruning, and none commonly suffer from pests or diseases. I would be hardpressed to say which viburnum I would choose if I could only have one.

Viburnums are moist woodland plants. In nature they are found along steam banks from Long Island to Florida. When you come to our 5275 West Swamp Rd. location ask us to show some in their native habitat that we found along our stream bank. These plants perform well under normal landscape conditions. I especially like the floral display in the spring and these viburnums that bear fruit in the fall. Winterthur has great red leaves and abundant fruit in the fall. This cultivar needs a cross pollinator such as viburnum nudum. If you want things to do in the winter this is when I cut back our viburnums. Pressing issues of the other seasons always leaves my viburnums to stand alone untouched. It is mid winter and I always enjoy trimming back these plants then. I see all the nests that the birds haver built and can work without disturbing their families. It seems to me that it is easier to cut back and trim now for I always feel bad in the summer when I trim out green foliage. When trimming foliage I always guilty cutting greens off of the plants. Wintertime frees me from those demons.

Bring life back to your garden this spring.

Spring is in my opinion the most wonderful time of year for the gardener. You can shake of that winter weariness and get ready for a new gardening season.

The most difficult part of spring gardening is trying to manage your impatience. Don't start digging around too early. The soil must be dry enough to have it fall apart when you pick it up. When it still sticks together like glue that's definitely not the case.

The beginning of the growing season is the best time to make changes.

Early spring is the best time of year to change (parts of) your garden design. You can transplant existing shrubs and perennial plants before they begin to leaf out. This also is the time to prune your trees and shrubs. Cut back the remaining dead foliage from last season and remove dead, damaged or diseased branches of trees and shrubs.

And then flowers! That's really what spring is about isn't it! There are many that are suitable for cool spring weather. Think of sweet alyssum, some snapdragons, stock and sweat peas. You can also start some perennials like hostas and daylilies.

Start some Violets, Marigolds, Carnations, Geraniums and Impatiens inside to transplant to your flower beds in early spring. Or if you have some space left in your garden you can set up a "Cold Frame". Ready-made cold frames are available in different sizes. A cold frame "captures" the spring sunlight and warms the soil it surrounds. That way it is ideal to "harden off" houseplants and transplants for your summer garden. You can use the cold frame for direct seeding as well.

If you have unplanted areas in your garden a great spring project is to lay out landscape cloth on that unplanted area. Landscape cloth is an excellent weed barrier. It comes in different weights, heights and fabric choices. This cloth can then also serve as a great map to precisely plant your transplants.

Weeds start to grow very early but still have shallow roots in spring so get them out when you spot them. Getting on top of the weeds now means a lot less work in summer, and I'm sure that digging out weeds in the burning sun in not your favorite pastime.

These two measures will definitely intimidate your perennial weeds to the extent that they will prefer your neighbor's garden over yours.

And most of all enjoy your spring garden, watch it grow and blossom into summer!

About the Author

Anita Johnston