The Horrors of Hail
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. I know this from experience, because when I was a blooming
gardener I had my garden completely demolished by about 10 minutes of
severe hail.
When I first learned my lesson on the damage hail can do, I quickly
devised a method of coping. I began to keep large clay pots within 10
feet of my garden, so that at any sign of hail I could run outside and
have the plants sheltered in a matter of seconds.
This saved me from being forced to watch my plants be ripped to pieces
on multiple occasions. I’ve never dealt with hail more than an inch in
diameter, but I’m 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 my 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, I ended up building a horizontal, retractable screen
mechanism made out of a strong but flexible wire mesh. At any sign of
rain I could pull the screen out over my 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
me several hundred dollars, and more blood, sweat, and tears than can
be measured with earth dollars. Therefore I 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 back and watching them be ripped to shreds should never be an
option!
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