Nailsworth Gardener: Securing The Poly Tunnel

WELCOME TO MY POTTING SHED

You can't beat a dollop of mud a day to keep the Doctor at bay.

Why not follow me about as I garden for money and just for fun in beautiful Nailsworth and its' environs.

What's it all about?

My gardens, that's all and any gardening related stuff I guess you might be interested in.

Where do I garden?

My house is in the centre of Nailsworth. With the wind in the right direction, we get a strong whiff of curry as it floats out of the Passage to India and into our front garden. We never get this smell anywhere else on our premises, which is either a good thing, or a bad one, depending on your point of view. As you now know we have a garden, a small rectangle, at the front of the house, and a triangular courtyard garden at the back. Then there's the Garden Plot, right down in the heart of Nailsworth, which I rent from a local business. This is new as from Autumn 2009 and will take a lot of work to help it become productive. I try to garden for veges at my friend Debbis house and for fun with my next door neighbour.

It adds up to a lot of work. For a relaxing hobby, it's proving stressful at times, but, mostly it's heaven.

There are customers who like me to work for them right through the year, and others who I see during the summer months. This working more days a week in the summer than in the winter, of course. The way to keep the finances stable for me has been to teach on the days I don't garden. Works really well for me. The bills get paid, we haven't starved to death yet and we get to have fun ... sometimes!

Sunday 4 March 2012

Securing The Poly Tunnel

This Poly Tunnel has been a disaster.

the cover's too big for the frame, not enough flange (titter ye not) to secure the cover at the bottom, big puddles in the roof area whenever it rained.

I used it for the rest of last summer. The company sent me a new one, NO QUESTIONS ASKED which was fantastic. I have it in the POTTING SHED.

Spring is almost upon us, and I REALLY want to use the poly tunnel.

I HAVE BEEN THINKING.

That mean little flange has to be tightly secured - somehow, so that the whole cover becomes as tight as possible.

I decided to push the flange under the bottom rail, into the tunnel. To do this I had to cut the plastic around any obstacles - securing pegs etc.

Once all the flange was shoved into the inside of the tunnel, I put broom handles/stakes/hazel rods end to end all the way around on top of the flange.

Once in place the flange was wrapped around the wood as tightly as I could and then stapled into place.

The cover was still too big and baggy as it had been made to a greater diameter than the metal frame. By pushing off cuts of plastic guttering and down pipes between the frame and the cover. Cabled ties secured the guttering/down pipe in place. And yes, I drilled holes in the guttering/down pipe to pass the cable ties through.

THEY'RE GOING NOWHERE!