Thunderstorm Protection for Plants

Keeping Your Garden Safe From The Weather

Nothing will break your heart more than standing at the window watching the hail pounding your garden and planters into pulp, with all those lovely flowers just starting to bloom...except maybe going out afterwards to try and salvage something.

Thunderstorm Protection for Plants

The problem with thunderstorms is that even when we get advance warning via the weather channel, sometimes we think it will by pass us, or not be as severe as they predict, so we don't go out and cover the plants to protect them.

Don't wait until this happens to think of ways to protect plants; this really happened, no kidding!  Watch the video;

It's not until the thunder starts, and the torrential rain starts overflowing the gutters that we wish we had been more on top of it.

Here are a few ways to prevent the damage, prior to the event.

I thought of lots of ways to give the plants an edge, and be able to withstand the pummeling, but until my greenhouse fell down under the weight of  three feet of snow, nothing really came to me as a solution. 

Afterwards, using salvaged pieces of Bob's Superstrong Plastic became my go-to in advance of stormy weather. 

The light gets through it fine, but it's heavy enough to not blow away as long as it's anchored with some rocks or boards.

Protecting hanging baskets from hailProtecting hanging baskets from hail

The thought of my little hanging basket stuffers getting the stuffing knocked out of them is another topic entirely. 

The hanging baskets are perched on the corners of buildings, out in the weather. 

The  usual method of protection consists of moving them, one by one, into the woodshed for the duration - not a good option, because usually, by the time the storm hits we're running around doing other things. 

So, my solution was to stick a colander, a funnel and some basket chargers over the plants, right over or inside the chains holding the hanging basket.  They still get light, but they'll be protected from hail or downpours.

Once the plants get big enough, they'll be able to withstand the damage from thunderstorms.  They may get a few flowers knocked off, and a few leaves torn, but they'll replace them quickly. Then they won't need to be coddled and protected any more.



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