Techniques
Cloche
A small, movable cover — glass, rigid plastic or fleece on hoops — placed over plants to warm the soil and shelter crops from cold, wind and pests.
What a cloche is
A cloche is simply a small cover you place over plants or bare soil. The name comes from the French for "bell", after the old bell-shaped glass jars Victorian gardeners set over single plants. The job is the same today: trap a little warmth, lift the temperature under the cover, and shield young plants from cold winds, heavy rain, frost and hungry pests.
Think of it as a tiny, portable greenhouse you can pick up and move wherever it's needed.
Types of cloche
- Bell cloches — the classic glass or clear plastic dome that covers one plant. Pretty, but only useful for the odd specimen.
- Tunnel cloches — a row of hoops with clear polythene or rigid plastic stretched over them, covering a whole row of crops. The most practical type for a veg bed.
- Fleece cloches — horticultural fleece draped over hoops. Lighter protection, but it breathes, lets rain through and is cheap to replace.
- Cut plastic bottles — slice the base off a 2-litre bottle and you have a free mini-cloche, ideal for protecting individual seedlings.
What you use a cloche for
A cloche earns its keep in three ways. First, warming the soil — pop one over a bed a couple of weeks before sowing and the ground heats up enough to bring earlier crops forward. Second, protecting tender seedlings from late frosts, cold winds and battering rain. Third, it forms a useful step in hardening off, easing indoor-raised plants towards life outside. As a bonus, the cover keeps slugs, birds and many flying pests off your young plants.
Using a cloche in the UK
The British growing year is short and the spring weather rarely behaves, so a cloche is genuinely useful here. In late winter and early spring (February–April), use one to warm soil for early carrots, beetroot, salad leaves and broad beans, and to shelter the first sowings. In autumn, slip a cloche over late crops to squeeze a few more weeks out of the season and keep autumn rain off salads.
Remember to ventilate on mild, sunny days — even a weak UK sun can cook plants under sealed plastic. Lift an end or peg the fleece back, then close it up again at night.
Cloche versus cold frame
The two do a similar job but at different scales. A cloche is lightweight and movable — you carry it to wherever a crop needs protecting, then take it away. A cold frame is a fixed, box-like structure with a hinged clear lid, better suited to raising seedlings and overwintering plants in one settled spot. Many gardeners use both: cold frames near the house for raising plants, cloches out on the beds to protect crops in the ground.
For more on getting your first crops going, see how to start a vegetable garden and our vegetable growing guides.
In a UK garden
In the UK's cool, unpredictable springs, a cloche set over a bed in February or March warms the soil a degree or two and buys you a fortnight's head start on sowing.
Example
Cut the bottom off a 2-litre plastic bottle, push it into the soil over a young lettuce, and you have a free mini-cloche that keeps the slugs and the cold night air off.