Make your own mini-polytunnel

Don’t waste money on expensive polytunnels make your own.

Time to do: early spring

Start the season early with a home-made mini-polytunnel -it is ideal for bringing on early sowings of broad beans, peas and salads. You can easily move it around the garden to shelter new plantings, helping them get established and protecting them from cold and drying winds. It's just the thing to ripen off chillies and tomatoes, too, at the end of the season, as it’s taller than most ready-made cloches.

An old, bendy tent frame makes the perfect support for a large sheet of polythene, which can be pegged into the ground using the tent pegs. You can buy UV-resistant polythene for a few pounds, and have it cut to the desired length, at most garden centres. This will last longer than ordinary polythene sheeting, especially if you roll it up and store it in the shed when not in use. The tent frame stores easily too simply

dismantle the poles and pop them back in their bag for next time.

TIP Keep both the ends open in summer for better ventilation.

references: BBC 2011 gardeners book