Cloche

The 'Geoff Hamilton' Cloche

This simple to make cloche was originally designed on the Gardeners World television program by the late Geoff Hamilton and a variation of it can be seen on allotments all over the country.

The cloche consists of a wooden frame with hoops of plastic pipe to support the polythene sheeting used as a cover. The sizes can be adjusted to make the cloche any size you want but you may need to add extra hoops and/or lateral strengthening bars to support the polythene if you make it longer.

What you will need

The sizes given below make a cloche 4ft wide by 4ft long

4 lengths of 3" x 1" (75mm x 25mm) Timber - 4ft long ( make this longer if you require a larger cloche) Preferably Tanalised to help prevent the wood rotting.
4 lengths of 2" x 2" (50mm x 50mm) Timber - 6 - 8" long. Preferably Tanalised to help prevent the wood rotting.
2 - Lengths of 15mm Alkathene plastic pipe, (type used for water supply) approx 7ft (2m) long. (or longer if you require a higher or wider cloche
Plastic sheeting for cover.
Drill bit the same diameter as the outside diameter of the Alkathene tubing.
Staple gun

Assembly

Start by cutting the 2" x 2" (50mm x 50mm) timber to length. If you just require the cloche to just sit on the ground, this length can be 3", the same depth as the timber sides but, in more exposed, windy sites it would be better to make these into anchors to stop the cloche blowing away. If this is the case, make these into 'legs' that can anchor the cloche down by making them longer ( up to 10" long). It will help to push these legs into the ground if they have a point cut on the end.

Mark out and drill pilot holes for the screws in each base piece. Note that the screws are placed in opposite diagonals to prevent them from hitting each other.

Screw the side and end rails to the legs as in the diagram.

Drill a hole the same diameter as the tubing in the top of each corner piece. This will need to be 1" - 1.5" deep.

Cut two pieces of Alkathene tubing to the length required. This depends on the depth you have made your cloche and the height that you require the cloche. Check the height by bending the tubing roughly into position before cutting. This will give you an idea of the height.

Push the tubing into the holes ensuring that it is a good tight fit ( the tubing can be shaved with a sharp knife if it is too tight to go into the hole or, on the other hand, if the hole is too big and the tubing is a sloppy fit, use something like liquid nails to help secure it.

The frame is now ready for covering with polythene.
Spread the polythene over the frame and secure one edge to the timber base frame. A staple gun is ideal for doing this. Leave enough overlap at each end to be able to fold the polythene in and cover the ends. Pull the polythene tight and secure the other side.

Fold the ends in neatly and secure.

For longer cloches, add more hoops. These can be attached by using the same method as the corner blocks, i.e.. Drilling a hole for the pipe to fit into and securing the block by screws.

For longer or higher cloches, you may also need to add lateral battens for more stability. These can be made from 1" x .5" timber. Drill pilot holes in both the timber and tubing and secure with screws.