Ansty to get gardening? Well here are 2 very clever inventions to extend your growing time by allowing you to safely start earlier, even before the last chance of frost! Water walls and cloches, one inventive item you can purchase, the other ingenious thing my dad created for free…
The invention you can buy for your garden to start growing earlier are these water walls. They are a ring of nearly clear plastic tubes that you fill with water to surround your baby plant.
The water absorbs the warmth from the sun and protects the seedlings when the temperature dips below freezing creating a mini micro-climate inside the wall of water. My dad, the most successful gardener I know, swears by them! He uses water walls every Spring to start his seedlings earlier.
Inside the water walls the seedling is growing super healthy and nearly ready to go out on its own!
My dad pounded in a few 1 x 2 stakes to give the water walls a little extra support to keep the top open for the plants, after the risk of frost is over.
The title of this post is water walls and cloches, I just showed you the water walls… now the cloches. My industrious dad has created cloches… for free!
He asked his local water bottling distributor if they had any discarded or broken water bottles. They gave him a bunch for free. My parents have a water cooler like this one, so they get bottled water from the distributor, (that may be part of why they gave him the bottles for free).
He neatly cuts off the bottoms (or tops, depending on which way you look at it) and they work wonderful for a cloche to keep the chilly air off seedlings.
Dad pounded in a re-bar post at each plant center so that when the ‘water jug turned cloche’ is placed over it, it hold the cloche in place.
The hole in the top of the home-made cloche vents out hot air. When the sun gets too warm, he just lifts the cloche off, and sets it aside ready to put back on for the evening… so clever!
So with these water walls and cloches even the frost at night can’t stop you from gardening!
Shopping: Water Walls are available here.
Here are more gardening ideas and tips:
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This post is linked at these other sites: Skip to my Lou, Between Naps on the Porch, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Jessica Lee says
very creative idea you have here. True Gardner indeed when one goes to this length to protect his plants
Liz says
Yes, using the water walls allows the plants an early start in the season
Trudy says
I’m forever killing my plants and always looking for tips, help, and great ideas. Practice makes perfect and I’ll keep trying. I’ll definitely be trying out the cloches!
Liz says
What a great attitude Trudy! That’s inspiring… keep trying.
Donnamae says
Your dad is a true gardener! Using ‘whatever’ to protect his ‘babies’! Just like my mom used to do. Clever! 😉
Liz says
He is for sure, Donnamae.