If you love to garden, but don’t live in a location where the climate is always the best or the bugs know to stay off of your tomatoes and vegetables, there are two simple projects you can do to create a small or large garden area.
These are simple projects you can do in a couple of hours using tools you have around the home. As the frames are made out of PVC pipe, corners, tees, and PVC snap clamps they don’t require any expensive tools and they will be lightweight, durable and easy to store away in the shed or garage when not in use.
Organic Bug Protection
No one wants to spray a lot of chemicals on their vegetables, so if going organic is your passion you can create your own shelter for the plants that lets in the sun but keeps out bugs, rodents and even neighborhood pets and pests.
Start by measuring the space you want to protect. You will need the length and the width to know the length of PVC pipe to purchase. It is a good idea to consider the size of the pipe you will want as well, with larger lengths and widths needing a larger pipe for greater strength.
You will need one three way connector for each corner, and if you have a long length or width you may want to tees to allow you to run perpendicular pipe across for extra stability. With PVC pipe cut to the desired length, use primer and PVC glue and slide the pieces into the corners to create a box shape.
Buy greenhouse netting in the designed mesh to cover the complete frame to the ground without any gaps to stop crawling bugs. Then, after placing the mesh in the correct position over the frame, use the PVC snap clamps to hold the mesh or netting in place. These just slip over the netting and grip onto the frame, and you can position them all along the frame to keep the mesh secure.
Shade and Sun
The mesh will allow full sunlight through, and for people with patio gardens or that live in hot climates, the same frame can also be used to provide protection for your plants. You can choose a heavier in shade cloth, available at a greenhouse supply store, and us the handy PVC snap clamps to keep in place.
As the clamps can be popped on and off and used over and over, this simple frame becomes a very practical way to extend your gardening opportunities.
