I have had an open garden with no covering of any sort for 2 years now and every year it is destroyed by hail. I am thinking of having my husband make me a small greenhouse in the hopes of actually being able to grow my garden this year. What do you like about greenhouses? Do you grow larger and more bountiful plants?
It's a wise idea to put a cover over your garden if there is a tendency of hail or heavy weather in your region. In the past, when I lived in the tropics, I had to protect my plants from the strong sun and excessive monsoonal downpour. So, instead of building a greenhouse, I found it to be just as effective to cover my plants with shade cloth. I built a sturdy bamboo structure around my plants and covered everything up with dark green shade cloth. It filtered out the sun and rain and created a perfect environment for my plants to thrive in. My chickens also thought it was paradise.
Sadly, I did not even think about covering my plants with a shade cloth! I already have a garden fenced so it would not be too hard to cover my plants with cloth. This route sounds cheaper than building a green house. In my area we tend to get quiet a bit of hail. Do the shade cloths hold up well to hail and wind? The hail we receive is generally small but with the accompanying wind it can get brutal.
