Using Garden Cloches To Shield Seedlings From Wind Hail And Hard Rain

Extreme weather can damage garden plants, uproot young crops and stress plants out, depriving them of essential moisture sources.

Assuring the plants remain watered is one way of mitigating wind and rainfall’s negative impacts, as is mulching which helps suppress weeds while insulating soil from temperature extremes, while organic materials can cool the ground by keeping moisture at a constant level in your garden.

1. Keep the Soil Moisture Levels High

An impressive garden takes hard work and dedication, yet even well-planned gardens can fall prey to natural disasters like rainstorms, frost, hail or high winds. By understanding which weather events your garden is vulnerable to and planning accordingly, you can reduce risk and help sustain a healthier garden year after year.

Proactive measures may include mulching, installing temporary shade cloths and umbrellas, using garden cloches and plastic domes (upturned buckets or milk jugs with their bottoms removed make good, inexpensive covers), planting hedges, installing fences and building windbreaks from trees and shrubs. Watering deeply and frequently is recommended to avoid overly saturated soils or rot while drip irrigation and soaker hoses save water by delivering it directly into the root zone with reduced evaporation; early morning irrigation also helps plants absorb moisture before intense sun exposure occurs.

Installing French drains and rain gardens are an effective way to direct excess rainfall away from vulnerable beds, while elevating low beds or moving potted plants into protected locations can minimize prolonged soil submersion.

2. Cover the Seedlings with Mulch

Mulch can be one of the best investments you make for your soil, helping retain water, reduce erosion and moderate temperature extremes while suppressing weed growth – all benefits which improve its health and structure.

19th-century market gardeners would rely on glass bell-shaped cloches to protect out-of-season produce from frost; however, these semipermanent structures were often expensive and inconvenient to use for individual plants. Now gardeners can utilize reusable plastic milk jugs with their bottoms cut off or commercial frost cloth as effective frost blankets for protecting tender plants and seedlings from frost damage.

Additional weather-protective strategies include terracing and contour gardening to slow wind speed, planting dense hedges as living windbreaks, creating swales and drainage ditches to channel floodwater away from vulnerable areas, as well as creating swales and drainage ditches to direct floodwater away. Mulching garden beds with compost or well-rotted manure boosts soil nutrient content while increasing water retention rates and insulate roots against cold snaps.

3. Place a Windbreak in Front of the Seedlings

An effective windbreak should consist of both shrubs and trees, providing more protection than single species breaks by decreasing disease and insect infestation, moisture robbing by wind from pastures or crops and wind-robbed moisture loss.

Windbreaks that have been properly designed can reduce wind speeds over a 5x distance from their height, helping reduce energy bills and curb soil erosion.

Alternately, windbreak hedges made of dense evergreen species like arborvitae and pine can act as windbreaks to decrease wind speeds. You could also utilize temporary windbreaks like burlap screens or lattice panels as temporary windbreaks to shield tender plants and crops from frost and hail; you could even secure tall or top-heavy crops using garden stakes and ties to prevent them from toppling during storms.

Make the most of your landscaping efforts with swales and rain gardens to help reduce rainfall runoff while helping soil retain water, helping reduce erosion while replenishing groundwater sources during droughts.

4. Keep the Seedlings in a Warm Place

After experiencing an intense weather event, it can be easy to feel defeated, but you can equip your garden to withstand it by selecting local plants which tend to better withstand cold and heat extremes than their exotic counterparts. Also consider including flowering and edible varieties to provide diversity that helps mitigate loss in one event.

Before frost or hard freeze strikes, be sure to water deeply the day prior and cover delicate plantings to protect them. Keep old blankets, tarps or cloches on hand in order to quickly protect plants when an impending storm approaches.

Select tall and top-heavy plants that can support themselves against wind damage, or stake them. Mulch to reduce soil erosion and anchor roots. Clear gutters, downspouts, and drainage ditches of debris in order to avoid clogging. Construct living windbreaks made up of shrubs or evergreen trees as living windbreaks to reduce wind speeds and snow drift damage while building a rain garden or drainage swale to direct heavy rainfall away from roots and home foundations.