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s many South-Edmonton residents can attest to, hail can do some damage to your backyard gardens. Unfortunately Armour's Crop Insurance doesn't cover your home garden from hail damage, but we can offer some tips collected from avid gardeners across North America. So the next time the hail hits, your plants will be covered!
Temporary Hail Solutions: These solutions are for those people who don't mind making the mad dash to the garden when the dark skies appear.
- For potted plants, make sure you move them all under a table or deck. Even a deck chair will suffice if it's low enough to the ground.
- For young plants, a light coating of mulch sprinkled over top can be effective at protecting from smaller sized hail. Just make sure that the mulch is wet down so it doesn't blow away!
- Old bed sheets can protect in a jiffy as well and they're usually light enough not to crush anything underneath. just be sure to pin down the corners.
- Milk crates or cardboard boxes can be a great temporary solution for single bushes and plants. A heavy rock on the top will most likely keep the wind from interfering.
(More) Permanent Solutions: For those of you who are serious about hail protection!
Many avid gardeners take to the workshops with garden frames in the spring to protect their precious buds from inclement weather. The frames are fairly easy to make and can be thrown together in a weekend with the proper materials.
Some people prefer wood frames, but the most popular seems to be PCV piping stuck in the ground with a protective cover over top. The covers can be made out of several different types of material: a few layers of plastic (or one thicker piece), bird netting, screening, etc. The main challenge is making sure that your cover still allows water, air and sunlight to reach your plants. (With plastic cover you would have to make sure that you are watering regularly.)
Good luck and may your plants survive the tempermental Alberta summer!
We may not be able to insure your veggie garden against hail, but we're experts on a larger scale. Click here for a free quote on home insurance or crop and hail insurance.
