Polytunnels are amazing if they are yours, somewhat unattractive if they are your neighbour’s (a hedge in between might help), and most gardens have space for a wee one.
But if you get a regular old polytunnel from Amazon and set it up like the vanilla instructions say, then I am here to tell you could do much better, and I am telling you now before it’s too late.
This video by plantfriends.online conveniently shows the three critical things that we would add ourselves if we were constructing a small home polytunnel, I know the list says 4, that’s fine:
- Base frame adds stability, a little height, and helps with levelling
- Door frames at both ends make the frame solid, preventing wobble in high winds
- If the frame comes with the option of cheap cover, which they usually do on Amazon, don’t buy it. Buy a good quality, UV resistant cover separately, slightly bigger than you think you’ll need
- Wrap the tunnel frame on a warm sunny day, when the polythene sheet will stretch. When it cools, it will tighten.
When you reinforce a tunnel this way, you can even build a solid one from wibbly wobbly materials like this DIY project involving water pipe: