How to make a garden cloche

Specially made versions are readily available to buy (such as the one pictured; similar available at Period Features), but all kinds of household items can be recycled into cloches, so crafting your own is particularly satisfying. Make individual ones for each of your plants out of empty plastic drinks bottles or larger versions resembling tiny polytunnels from polythene and hoops.

Drinks bottle cloche

For the simplest homemade cloche, take a transparent plastic drinks bottle - two-litre ones are ideal, leaving plenty of space above and around it - and cut off the base (using a pair of scissors to do this is safer than a knife). Remove the screw-top lid to allow the plant air, but keep it handy so you can replace it when temperatures plummet and your crop needs maximum protection from the cold. Place the cloche over the plant and firm in around the base to prevent it toppling in the wind. For tiny seedlings, a glass jam jar turned upside down will work nicely and act like a mini greenhouse.  

Hanging basket cloche

Alternatively, make this stylish, yet inexpensive, cloche with a hanging basket and secondary glazing film. Place the film over the hanging basket, allowing it to hang over by around 5cm, fastening it with double-sided tape to the rim, then use a hairdryer to rid the film of wrinkles and tighten it. Remove the surplus by trimming it with scissors. These should last at least one season.

Alternatively, try this guide to making the famous Geoff Hamilton cloche.

Where to buy cloches

Crocus

Dobbies

Eden Project

Harrod Horticultural

Let's Go Gardening

Marshalls

Nigel's Ecostore

The National Vegetable Society

Premier Polytunnels

Suttons

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