How to Build a Support for Frost Cloth

Planting gardens early in spring and protecting them with frost cloth enables early harvesting.

Frost cloth is a protective covering for vegetation that does not allow the freezing moisture to touch the plants, leaves or blooms. The breathable fabric allows air circulation underneath to enable healthy plants. A late spring freeze can destroy young seedling plants, crops in a garden or the flowers in landscaping. Planting an early garden of vegetables or flowers and covering its support with cloth enables early crops and flowers.

Things You'll Need

• 3/4 inch, 5 ½ feet long black poly pipe hoops
• Measuring tape
• Rock, brick or board
• Frost cloth
• Scissors
• PVC snap clamps

Instructions

1. Stretch a measuring tape across the width of the area of protection. Measure 18 inches from the center of a row or flower bed to the left and to the right about 6 inches in front of the row or bed. Mark each area by placing a rock, brick or board on it.

2. Press one end of a black poly pipe into the marked area to penetrate the soil 6 inches deep. Bend the pipe over the row and insert the second end 6 inches deep into the soil.

3. Continue this process down the length of the garden rows or flower bed placing each pipe 24 inches apart and extending the last pipe 6 inches past the opposite end of the area.

4. Unroll the frost cloth and place it over the hoops starting at one end. Walk to the other end of the area while unrolling the cloth and centering it on the hoops. Pull the cloth to the ground at the front and rear of the structure, and center it to cover both sides to the ground. Lay the roll of frost cloth at the rear of the structure on the ground.

5. Place a PVC snap clamp in the center of the front hoop. Hold the hoop steady with one hand and press the clamp onto the hoop with the frost cloth underneath it. Repeat this process to install a snap clamp on the right and left sides of the front hoop at ground level. Install three snap clamps in the same manner on each hoop working to the rear of the row or bed. Cut excess frost cloth off the roll with scissors.

Tips & Warnings

• Cut poly pipe loops to a smaller size with pipe cutters for small areas of coverage. This plan is fully adjustable to any size of flowerbed or garden area. Use one structure to cover two garden rows that have little space in between them.

• Allow 4 inches of height over plants and shrubs to keep the frost cloth from touching vegetation.

• Having two people pressing opposite ends of the loops into the ground on each end simultaneously saves one person walking through the garden or plant area repeatedly to install each side.

• Cutting the excess frost cloth off the roll after placing the clamps on the rows allows for material length that partially wraps around each pipe loop.

References

• PVC Plans: Row Covers