Grow Your Own Magazine

When we were putting in my greenhouse I decided to use up some link-a-bord and gravel I had as it was excess so I built a 12x3 bed and filled it with gravel right next to my greenhouse thinking maybe I could use it as a cold frame but as it is only 6inchs in height this never came about. Last summer I put some toms in grow bags in it and some house plants and herbs in it and then filled it up with all my empty pots, in fact some of them have even over wintered in it, so before I start filling it up with my mess again I thought I would put a post in here asking for bright ideas on how to make the best use of it or whether i should simply dismantle it and add the link-a-bord to the veggie garden

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Why not make a temporary cold frame that you can use this time of year for the over flow from the greenhouse & hardening off plants or autumn sown sweetpeas, hardwood cuttings etc. Then come the summer take this down and do the same again as last year if it worked.

You could always give it a spray over with some Jeyes in the autumn to kill of any nasties that might be lurking if you wanted to.

I use temporary frames a lot and they are held together with 8 bolts so takes minutes to put up & down.

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ntg

Never be afraid to try something new.
Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark.
A large group of professionals built the Titanic

http://grief-encounters.blogspot.com/

How would I raise the height of it though, I could use it to harden off and just put fleece on top of the plants but if there was a serious frost and the fleece is touching the plants would that affect them?

I had another idea for this gravel bed/cold frame today, but please don't laugh - I think I once read something about being able to grow strawberries in gravel, has anyone else heard of this or am I just more senile than I realise?

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Here you go PC. This is what one of my temp frames is like (not a photo unfortunately but you'll get the Idea.

I assume you grow stuff on staging this time of year so the height of the back won't be a problem. You could always leave it up with no tops on and give a bit of shelter early on

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ntg

Never be afraid to try something new.
Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark.
A large group of professionals built the Titanic

http://grief-encounters.blogspot.com/

Hey, that's really good, thanks very much for that ntg

How is it attached or does it just rest?

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Mine just sit on the bed edging, yours Being link a board it wont get wet. I make mine out of Tanalised roofing lathes (2"x 1") and is covered in 1000g plastic (try NA Kays for this) Lights for the top are made the same ( the back bit is on edge so it hangs over if you know what I mean - If your really handy you could do the front the same) and then I use 4 coach bolts in each end panel to hold it together.

My big one is 12x3 so it is feasible.

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ntg

Never be afraid to try something new.
Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark.
A large group of professionals built the Titanic

http://grief-encounters.blogspot.com/

Again, thank you ntg, I suppose if it's not permanent then that means that it could be used on my veggie beds where necessary as they are the same size. Looks like it's going to be a busy year

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