Building a Cold Frame in the Garden

We have a number of perennial plants that are not cold hardy.  Most are in pots setting on the front porch or back porch.  These plants needs to be protected during the winter months, e.g., bougainvillaea, ginger, succulents, cacti, etc.

We decided to build a cold frame structure to protect our tender plants.  It is located in our sunny garden and gets sunshine all day.  It is approximately 5 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 5 feet high.  I used treated lumber and used concrete around each post for stability.  The structure will be covered with plastic sheeting.  It will be filled with straw and then pavers and bricks will be placed on top of the straw.  If temperatures drop below 25F we will place a light bulb inside the structure - making it into a hot bed.

I will add more pictures as this project is completed during the upcoming week.  

"A cold frame is a protected plant bed. It has no artificial heat added. The temperature difference between the inside and outside of the frame is generally not more than 5 to 10 degrees. A mat or blanket may be placed over the frame on cold nights to conserve heat, but this increases temperature by only a few degrees. There are times, however, when a few degrees can be very important.
A cold frame is used to provide shelter for tender perennials, to "harden off" seedling plants or to start cold-tolerant plants such as pansies, cabbage or lettuce earlier than they can be started in open soil. It may also be used to overwinter summer-rooted cuttings of woody plants.
A hotbed basically is a heated cold frame. In many ways it is a miniature greenhouse, providing the same benefits with limited space at minimal expense. It is a means for extending the growing season. It is most often used to give an early start to warm-season vegetables such as tomato, pepper or melon. It may also be used to root cuttings of some woody plants.
Hotbeds and cold frames should have a southern exposure to receive the maximum amount of sunlight. To reduce the cost of heating, use a north or northwest windbreak. This may be provided by a building, bales of hay or straw, tight board fence or evergreen hedge. Bundles or bales of straw could be used on the north for temporary windbreak."
-  By Denny Shrock, Department of Horticulture, University of Missouri



Images for Cold Frames

How to Build a Cold Frame

Building and Using Hotbeds and Coldframes

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