Monday, October 20, 2014

Happy-n-Dry...

Not even 12 hours into the autumn rains and my rain gauge already reported a half inch.

Thank goodness our local weather forecasters were on the job and predicting this a week out, that gave me the time I needed to haul the plants that need to be dry into the basement...

And convince Andrew we needed to build the shade pavilion greenhouse with time for me to fill it up.

The smaller plants were all moved undercover.

But what about that big container with the huge Agave ovatifolia and multiple A.lophantha 'Splendida'? Nah, I promised Andrew when I planted it up that we wouldn't try to move it. However I do want to keep those plants on the dry side this winter, so a trip to the big box was in order...

In the interest of full disclosure it was a discussion with Linda Ernst (I'd asked about how she managed to keep a beautiful astelia alive over our cold winter) that got me scheming about a PVC frame.

It really couldn't have been easier, or cheaper! (I spent $5.88 total on PVC)

The only challenging part was the idea of fitting a 10 ft plastic tube into my VW Beetle, thankfully I discovered they had handy cutters available right there in the store so I was able to cut my needed lengths before I even left! (this is when it paid to have measured in advance)

Tada! Oh wait, that's not waterproof yet.

More cheap solutions, a $2.99 shower curtain liner.

I wanted to be able to easily take this contraption apart for storage, or to change out the cover if need be, so the curtain is held on with binder clips (cause I had them), however I've since found PVC "snap clamps" so I'll be looking into using those instead. Once I had the curtain secured in place I cut off the excess along the bottom...

One complication that I hadn't adequately thought through, what about the bits of shower curtain I cut and threw to the ground? The wind could have caused mayhem tossing these pieces all around the garden. Thankfully my faithful assistant was there to keep the order...

Attractive, no, but this is a part of the garden out of sight unless I'm on the patio, which (sadly) I won't be much for the next few months.

I went with a frosted curtain so on those days with both sun and rain the sun won't get too intense on the leaves. I also designed the whole framework to be easily lifted off on dry days for air circulation and light.

Once I looked at the extended weather forecast for the week and realized it was going to be on for days I did worry a little about air circulation, so I cut a ventilation slit, only one as I wanted to see how it handled the wind before cutting another.

Arty shot inside the cover...

Here's the view as you walk into the back garden, you can just barely see the cover at the lower edge of the Yucca rostrata (Sammy)...

But the view from the bedroom window is a little worse. Ah well, it will be good to be able to glance out on a stormy day and make sure it's in place.

Here's the after rainfall photo, with dry bits underneath! I hope the agaves appreciate their little PVC igloo...

All material © 2009-2014 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

30 comments:

  1. I can not tell you how much I admire not only your design sense, but your follow thru. Nicely done, Ms. Danger.

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  2. Brilliant solution! I've been thinking of doing something similar for a couple of my drought-tolerant plants out in the front garden. Now that will be ugly on show for the entire neighborhood, but so what? It's worth it. I hadn't really thought through how I would do it, so I appreciate this post. Using the shower curtain is especially brilliant.

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    1. Brilliant eh? Thank you, you're being generous.

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  3. What Alison said. I may borrow this idea if our winter turns out to be wet (not likely).

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  4. I agree, this is a great solution and I may borrow the idea! Is this structure bear proof?

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    1. Indeed it is. At least if the same bear returns.

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  5. Totally worth it. I may imitate you. Yay for solutions and arty photos! And loyal assistants. Lucy and Hobbes help me too by eating grasses before they get planted. And after. And eating bugs.

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    1. As long as they're not bugs that can sting them (Lila seems to have a preference for bees, wasps, and the like).

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  6. That's a clever solution that can be easily borrowed and adapted ;) what I find the best bit of it, as you've said is how easy it will be to take it off and store on mild periods during the winter, and back on when needed.

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    1. Or just take off and put to the side for a few hours, which is about all I've been able to do lately. The rain storms just keep arriving one after the other!

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  7. That looks much nicer than my bamboo/bubble wrap .

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  8. Nicely done! And how nice of Lila to help out. I wish I could make a few insulated igloos for the tender new plants at my parents' house.

    The view walking into the back yard is gorgeous, by the way!

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    1. Thank you Evan, the growth the melianthus, cannas and castor bean put on this year has been wonderful.

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  9. Fantastic idea! Ruth Bancroft gardens does something like this for some of their tender succulents. Might have to steal this idea! hehe

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    1. Yes! That's right, I'd forgotten. The first time I visited there some of the winter protection was still up. I need to go back and look at those photos.

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  10. You are clever Loree ! I'm working on engineering a better frost cover frame for my citrus --this is a great idea I might have to copy with some modifications , i.e. frost blanket instead of plastic, and one gallon cans of sand since the tree is in a large container on concrete and needs to be anchored to keep it from turning into a Mary Poppins flying brolly.

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    1. Modify away! I definitely benefited from the container being right next to the large stock tank, easier to keep it in place. We'd hate to have a Mary Poppins flying brolly!

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  11. Very clever! Weren't you just moving all your plants into the shade pavilion the other day? Time flies, I can't believe it's time to pack up again already.

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    1. Yes, they went in over the weekend of the 11/12th.

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    2. Sorry, worded badly, I meant last year, as in it feels like it was just the other day but it was a year ago now :)

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  12. A creative solution. It's great that Lila could make a contribution too.

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    1. She certainly does what she can. Laying on things is one of her best skills.

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  13. You are very ingenious and I admire your dedication to your plants! Very helpful and cute assistant you have there too!

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    1. Ya, my assistant is pretty hard to refuse...

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  14. This solution is great!!! I hope it does not get leaks.

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    1. If it does then it's time for a new shower curtain!

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  15. You do take good care of your babies.

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