Using Cold Frames in the Mountain West

Extend the gardening season at the end of fall or the beginning of spring with these simple tools

If you ’ve lived in the Mountain West , you live how temperamental the weather can be here ; sometimes there are cut between temperatures with as much as a 60 ° to 70 ° F difference in a single twenty-four hours . We can get snow as latterly as June and as early as September . What ’s a nurseryman to do ?

There are many ways to extend the gardening time of year : Robert Lee Frost textile , walls of water , and row burrow , to name a few . One other method is the use of cold framing .

Cold frames at a glance

Very simply , cold frames are short loge with transparent lids . like to greenhouses , they help oneself protect the plants inwardly from weather extremes . Both greenhouses and cold-blooded frames lick on the principle that solar radiation can pass through the looking glass / charge plate outside and heat the materials and strain deep down , but the heat that is generated can not surpass through easily and is thus trapped inside . However , unlike with greenhouses , there is typically no additional stilted heat source in stale frame — only the sun . Lids can be propped open to air excess warmth during warm days . In addition to furnish warmness , cold shape also shelter plants from the current of air , which is so prominent in our mountain climate . There are several ways to use cold frames . Here are a few of the most coarse ones .

Hardening off seedlings

If you ’ve grown seedlings indoors or in the greenhouse , they need to be hardened off prior to transplanting in the garden . transmit them to a dusty frame is a great way to get your new plants adjusted to the outdoor surroundings .

Overwintering perennials

You may also use cold frames to overwinter repeated works for the next yr . At the Gardens on Spring Creek , where the above cold frames are used , this is their elementary use . We start perennial by seed for implant in our grounds and selling in a outflow plant cut-rate sale during the summertime , using the cold systema skeletale to store them over the winter . To ensure that plants stay warm enough , we also tally a layer of frost textile inside the cold frame of reference for extra insularism .

Providing insulation to existing beds

Another proficiency is to place the cold frame in a garden bed ( raise bed or in - ground ) and plant directly into the space . This is a slap-up fashion to expand the growing season for your veg garden . you could found cool - time of year crops such as lettuce , spinach , herbs , and root crops weeks to begin with in the spring , or add a crop in the fall as other crops have cease to provide sweet veggie as surrender passage to wintertime .

To build or to buy?

Building a stale bod is comparatively simple-minded and a great room to upcycle supplies you may have on deal . The nice matter is that they can be build to meet your space . You will often find them made with one-time window hinge to a wood box . At the Gardens on Spring Creek , we used old Lexan polycarbonate removed from a nursery that had suffered hail damage . Redwood frames were reconstruct , and undamaged sections of the polycarbonate were used to handle the sides and lids , allowing for more light . There are also many ready - made cold-blooded frames for sale online at a range of prices .

Where to place your cold frame

Place your cold frame in a sunny location , rather facing south or west for maximum illumination to create maximum heat . If you place it against a sign or rock wall , that will allow for the creation of extra heat . One Christian Bible of forethought : Pay attention to the winds on your internet site . If you are localize your cold-blooded frame in a long-winded placement , you may need to press it down or affix it to something so it wo n’t blow away . ( Yep , that is a moral get a line the surd way ! )

frigid frames are a bully fashion for us to extend the short gardening time of year in the Mountain West . I advance you to give them a endeavour . If you make up one’s mind to build your own , it will make a great wintertime projection that will be ready just in clip for next springiness ’s growing time of year .

For selective information on other methods of extending the season , check outGet a Jump Start on Spring Planting .

— Michelle Provaznik is executive conductor of the Gardens on Spring Creek in Fort Collins , Colorado .

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Easy-to-Build Cold Frame

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