One of the most hazardous things that can happen to your plants is
weather. Many a garden has been demolished overnight because of this
phenomenon. And seemingly, there is nothing we can do to prevent it. Of
course, if weather didn’t exist at all then we wouldn’t have those nice
sunny days that are beneficial to the growth of our plants. But then
again, we wouldn’t have the tragic hailstorms that tear down everything
we’ve worked for so many hours to grow.
When rain starts to fall, usually the first reaction in a gardener is pure
joy. After all, this means you don’t have to worry about going out and
watering it manually. The natural rain fall can’t be anything but good for
all your thirsty plants, can it? Well once that same gardener starts to
see the gorgeous rain drops turn into small globules of ice, usually a
complete emotional breakdown is in order. We know this from experience,
because when we were blooming gardeners we had our garden completely
demolished by about 10 minutes of severe hail.
When we first learned our lesson on the damage hail can do, we quickly
devised a method of coping. We began to keep large clay pots within 10 feet
of the garden, so that at any sign of hail we could run outside and have the
plants sheltered in a matter of seconds. This saved us from being forced
to watch our plants be ripped to pieces on multiple occasions. We’ve never
dealt with hail more than an inch in diameter, but we're guessing that if
there had been any baseball sized chunks then those pots would have been
quickly demolished.
However, as the number of fragile plants in our garden grew, it became
slightly impractical to have a pot for each plant, and run outside to
place each one before significant damage had already occurred. After much
thought, we ended up building a horizontal, retractable screen mechanism
made out of a strong but flexible wire mesh. At any sign of rain we could
pull the screen out over the entire garden and have instant protection. Not
only did it let the rain through, but the collected hail provided a steady
drip of water for as much as a day afterwards. This project cost us
several hundred dollars, and more blood, sweat, and tears than can be
measured with earth dollars. Therefore we wouldn’t recommend it to everyone.
If it’s too late for you, and you’ve recently lost your precious plants to
those wicked balls of ice, then you’re probably looking for some way to
help the plants recover. Unfortunately there aren’t many choices for you.
The best thing you can do is give them the tender care they deserve, and
attempt to nurse them back to health over a long period of time. The
several weeks after being severely damaged by hail are vital to whether
the plant survives or not. If you expect more rain or wind, you should
keep the plant covered. In this brittle stage, even raindrops or a strong
breeze could cause more damage.
So if you live in an area that experiences frequent hail, you should
definitely have some emergency plan for protecting your plants. Sitting by
and watching them be ripped to shreds should never be an option!
And don't forget to check out our selection of weatherproof patio furniture!
