On 3/18/12 2:27 AM, MartnJules wrote [in part]:
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.

I had a neighbor whose dog would use my front lawn as a toilet. I told
her that, if she did not stop her dog from relieving itself on my
property, I would start using her front lawn as my toilet. The dog
never entered my property again.


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.

Even on cool, overcast days, fully-enclosed sections can get hot enough
to cook the plants inside. All of your enclosures should have vents of
some kind, perhaps rows of 1 cm holes drilled near the bottom and near
the top.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary