The Perks Of Using A Greenhouse Cover In The UK
By Victoria Fuller
Ahh Spring, we have almost made it through the snows and the frosts and it’s time to finally get outside and start gardening again! Except the looming possibility of a cold front is around every corner, we can’t even go and get our mail without the threat of a blizzard blowing us back indoors! This is where our good friends “greenhouse covers” come in!
IS A GREENHOUSE COVER RIGHT FOR ME?
A Greenhouse Cover is a fantastic option for anybody looking to extend their growing season, maximize their chances of a successful home-grown vegetable harvest (especially if you are hoping to grow vegetables that tend to thrive in warmer environments such as tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, cucumbers, or lettuce) or grow plants that perhaps have a more tropical persuasion than the traditional options that we have here in the UK.
WHAT IS A GREENHOUSE COVER?
A Greenhouse Cover is like an insurance policy for your garden! When you live somewhere like The UK where the weather can be perfect for gardening one day and then resembling the Arctic Tundra the next, we need all of the reassurance we can get that we aren’t dooming our gardens to a frosty demise!
WEATHER PROTECTION
A Greenhouse Cover’s most obvious perk is its ability to protect your plants within your garden bed from the elements. Covers will protect against wind, snow, rain, and harmful UV rays! So you can rest easy knowing that the plants that you so carefully and tenderly grew from seeds are going to be safe and cared for outside! This extra level of protection is also a great way of regulating your soil temperatures (especially with a vegetable garden that may be a little more sensitive to bouts of extreme heat or cold!).
Greenhouse covers are also fantastic at helping to evenly distribute natural light amongst your plants, these cover’s don’t play favorites! The Cedar Planters Greenhouse Covers also have handy zipper-sides so you can have complete control over the air circulation to your plants as well!
PEST PROTECTION
We’ve all been there: you nurture some plants all the way from seed to baby plant, transplant them outdoors so that they can thrive and reach their full potential, only to look out the window to be met with the sight of a squirrel eating the plant in one mouthful and staring deep in your soul with approximately zero remorse. Well not anymore! Greenhouse covers are a fantastic option for keeping animals and insects away from your beautiful garden while still looking beautiful (no unsightly cages or plastic structures here!).
WATER PROTECTION
A heavy rainfall can be all it takes to wash away all of your progress and potential when it comes to your garden, but with a Greenhouse cover you don’t have to furrow your brow with concern every time it clouds over! Greenhouse covers are waterproof but feature handy zipper sides so you can easily water your plants the correct amount for them to thrive!
GREENHOUSE CAPABILITIES
The main reason that most gardeners like to use a Greenhouse cover (or an entire full-blown Greenhouse if they have the space and inclination) is for the “microclimate” capabilities that it offers! With a Greenhouse cover you are able to control the temperature and humidity that you expose your plants to and this effectively extends your growing season to potentially a full calendar year!
Now one of the downsides to an actual Greenhouse structure is the expense, building an entire miniature glass house for the sole purpose of growing plants inside is certainly a flex (although it can detract from the visual appeal of your outdoor space), but it does come with a hefty price tag, and that’s not even including the cost of heating, lighting, maintaining and monitoring your investment. This is where Cedar Planters Greenhouse Covers come in! They are built with the dimensions of our Western Red Cedar raised garden beds and planter boxes in mind, and they don’t cost you any additional upkeep funding once you have made your initial purchase: win win!
In the UK we wouldn’t recommend using your Greenhouse cover to grow plants all year-round as we do have a tendency to plummet below zero for several months of the year, and no Greenhouse cover alive is going to help your plants survive through that, but a Greenhouse cover will absolutely extend your growing season by several months at either end of the traditional gardening season! You can start sowing your seeds earlier in the season and you can continue harvesting later in the year with the help of this handy dandy Garden superhero!
