Hi Folks,

I'm a bit of a ‘New’ gardener and I'm looking for some advice on the use of Garden cloches.

We finished landscaping our garden last year and put in 8 x raised beds around 2m x 1m. Although my wife and I are novices, we had a reasonable amount of success with Kidney Beans, Peas, Courgettes, Mange tout and salads.

The one thing I discovered is that when you plant things, there are a number of things that are out to get you!

1. Domestic cats – Our next door neighbour has 5 cats which took great pleasure in using the beds as their personal toilet.

2. The Wind! – We live in a cliff top village in the Scottish Borders and suffer from extremely high winds. We lost 3 of our Courgette plants in one afternoon despite a 7 ft garden fence and the fact they were staked.

3. Caterpillars – The little buggers had a field day on our salads!

My plan this year is to come up with a solution that will beat all three of the above – hence I’m assuming cloches are the way to go?

My thoughts are to build wooden frames using decent quality timber – I can get hold of 2x2 Douglas Fir at a good price.

All of the frames will be covered on all sides with clear 5mm Polycarbonate Sheeting. Some of the frames will also have the top covered with Polycarbonate (Almost a mini greenhouse for Tomatoes/Peppers etc) the others will have a top that’s made of Galvanised netting to stop cats / birds / Cabbage moths etc.

PS – The ones that are fully enclosed with Polycarbonate sheeting will have a hinged lid which can be opened on hot days to let heat escape.

I just wondered if there are any things I need to be mindful of? I’m a competent woodworker so building them isn’t a problem, I just not a competent gardener hence the question!

Any pointers / advice would be much appreciated.

Many thanks

Martin