The Best Way to Insulate the Soil Now so You Can Plant Earlier in the Spring

At the end of winter in my garden, I’m hanging over the starting block like an Olympic swimmer: I’ve ordered the seeds, sowed the beds, started the races and can’t wait to plant everything. Unfortunately, the gardener’s starting point – the weather – often doesn’t cooperate, and I spend a month or two in limbo, waiting for that magical 60-degree soil temperature so I can finally get to work. But what if you could bypass the weather entirely—not just in early spring, even in fall and winter? You can do this by insulating the beds.

Make a mini-greenhouse for your garden beds.

Your beds are exposed to the elements, but you can create a mini-greenhouse over your beds to help insulate them from rain, snow and cold. Greenhouses for personal plots come in a variety of designs. You may be familiar with the “high tunnel,” which is simply huge steel hoops lined up in a row and covered with durable plastic. In winter, your beds will benefit from a “low tunnel”.

Extend the fall and start early in the spring, but with realistic expectations.

A ‘low tunnel’ is a smaller version of a high tunnel and you can build one over each bed very cheaply using PVC, plastic sheeting and Agribond. While you may be tempted to build a high tunnel to extend the life of your crops a few more weeks, a low tunnel is easier to maintain properly and will better withstand the winter elements (snow, wind, the neighbor’s cat who understands you now). have a new warm place to sleep).

Additionally, while a low tunnel can help insulate and protect your plants, it is not enough to make up the difference between what happens outside in December and the conditions your tomato plants need to thrive. But if it can’t work its magic, a low tunnel can protect the ground enough that you can put peppers and tomatoes in the ground a few weeks earlier next spring and extend the season a little into the fall.

How to build low tunnels

Construction is simple. You will need galvanized pipe hangers , designed to secure the pipe to the wall; you’ll use them to tie the pipe to the beds. On the inside of the beds, attach two pipe hangers stacked vertically about eight inches apart. Attach them using construction screws or something else that is strong enough. Place identical sets on both sides of the bed, along the long side with one set at each end, and then sets in between, about every two and a half feet.

Next, you will need to bend pieces of ½-inch diameter PVC pipe (very flexible) into hoops, inserting the ends into each matching set of brackets in the bed. The length of pipe you’ll need depends on the width of your bed: for a four-foot wide bed, ten feet is ideal. For a three-foot wide bed, cut the PVC to eight feet, and for a two-foot wide bed, cut the PVC to six feet.

Now that you have some hoops, you will need a cross brace on top. To do this you will need another piece of PVC pipe the same length as the bed. Use cross connectors to attach it to each hoop. It will hang under the hoops, but will stabilize the entire structure.

Let’s start in the fall, finish in the spring

Believe it or not, this is all you need to do in the fall. The hoops can stay in place all winter, and you don’t need to cover them until late winter or early spring—aim for early to mid-March. When the time comes, lay out some thick plastic wrap . It should be wide enough to be stretched across the width of the PVC frame, leaving some room to spare, and long enough to hang freely on the ground at both ends. Use plastic clips to attach the plastic to the PVC. Press down the edges of the plastic on all sides with bricks or something suitable heavy. If for any reason you need to access the bed, you can lift one side by unfastening the plastic.

If it’s very cold outside, you can also use Agribond – an insulating fabric that will keep your bed warm – as an extra layer of protection under the plastic. Be sure to open the ends during the day to allow air to circulate. When the season is over, unclip the clips and roll the plastic from one end to the other to store it, and remove the PVC to use again next year.

In the future, you will be able to install the hoops every fall, since the pipe clamps will remain there all year round. And you can put down plastic at the end of the growing season to extend it into the fall.